


Moonrise

by Cegorach



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Darkin all act like annoying children, F/M, main character has edgy and mysterious past, possible main character death monkaS, will add more characters when they show up, with lots of minor character appearances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23180023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cegorach/pseuds/Cegorach
Summary: The last of a people long thought extinct wanders the sands of Shurima with an ancient weapon, trying to forget his past. An unimaginable power stirs from its long slumber, and unless the land can unite against it, all of Runeterra will be swallowed.
Relationships: Diana/Original Character, Ezreal/Kai'sa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Sundown in the Sai

At sundown, the Great Sai was like an ocean. Waves of golden sand flowed in the wind, crashing around rubble and ruins. The sun, almost red, licked the horizon as dim beams tried to reach as far as they could. Most were reflected by the sun disk that floated to the distant North, an ugly metal disk in the sky. Zalia couldn't tell him why it was back, it didn't make any sense that an empire long forgotten had risen.

A man sat on top of the remains of a temple, arches and pillars long since reduced to rubble. His shirt was on the ground next to him, and a long umbilical of flesh led from a valve of calcified bone on his left shoulder to the book of blades and bone that sat open next to him. Every so often, the cord pulsed a malignant red in tune with the aura emanating from the book itself. The pages flipping idly in the weak wind while he stared at the red blur on the horizon.

"Zalia, tell me about the war," he said, breaking the silent dusk.

A voice seemed to emanate from the book itself, cracked and raspy with age.

"Which war Petrus? There were a lot of wars…."

"The Second Void War"

"Petrus, I've told you I don't like talking about it, you've read all of the pages I have on it anyways"

"I know. But I want to hear it from you. You already know everything about me, I want to know about the time before you were what you are now."

"And what's that?" the voice seemed to get louder and more intense.

"Darkin," he spat before making a small sign of warding.

"I suppose you're right, but be warned, most minds cannot handle the horrors we faced, we couldn't even remain unscathed."

"So what? My mind can just match my broken body then."

"Petrus…"

"Just, just forget about that, tell me your story."

And so the book told its story…

_~We were many back then, the Warhost of the Ascended. But the Void. The Void was legion. We gave everything to force those horrors back, to close those rifts with our own sun-filled lifeblood. You already know about how I wasn't a warrior, I was to be a living library of all of Shurima's knowledge._

_But times had changed, Shurima was desperate, the beasts were practically at our walls. And so came the decree, every sunborn was to march on the carcass of Icathia. And we paid the price for the Icathians' mistakes, we paid it a hundred fold in blood, drenching the dunes until they were a mire of death. But we pushed forward, helped by allies long lost to time, powers this world has not seen in aeons, we did the impossible._

_Never had I seen this much of the Warhosts united. Aside from a few chosen to protect our emperor, every sunborn to walk these dunes stood together against the Void. I've never seen so many ascended fall. Those that died in those days were the lucky ones._

_I will not go into specifics about what we faced, you are not ready for it, you never will be Petrus._

_The Void is anathema to those who inhabit Runeterra. It unraveled not only our bodies, but our minds as well. The sight of your brethren being skewered and torn asunder by the clash of reality itself does that to you. We fought for days, maybe even weeks, but as our minds unraveled, so too did it seem that the fabric of time and reality shift and tear. The voices, so quiet and yet so loud screamed inside my head for all I had lost._

_The Ascended had never known defeat before this, and would never know it again. We were Darkin now._

_The need for cleanliness, of removing all that is weak from our bodies, excising what still made us human. That came from the Void. It reached out to us, and crawled into our minds to fester. Our bodies we impure from exposure, we had to remove the taint. To keep the viruses out, we sculpted flesh into plates of bone, warped fingers into claws, became more, became less. Became Darkin._

_After we had sealed the last rift, I left to retire to my tower in peace. But that affliction followed me, and so I delved into the forbidden magicks we Darkin employed. None who glimpsed the infinite malignity of the Void were spared. And so it was, that after the Great Betrayal, when mankind turned on the Sunborn and locked us in our prisons, they came for me as well. Because I may have not started as a warrior, but we all came back as monsters. No Darkin could be left alone to wreak havoc on humanity._

_And so I was unmade into this book by those scum, those Aspects, to hold all of the knowledge I knew. They thought it a fitting punishment that I would be used to spread all that which I had hoarded, cursed to add whatever my hosts discovered to this ever growing prison.~_

"I see," was all Petrus said.

"Is that it?" asked Zalia.

"It's not like I didn't already know most of this."

"Then why did you ask?"

"To see if I missed anything… I want to know what dangers lurk below, what I may one day have to face."

"Do not even say the blight will return."

"Be quiet Zalia, let me enjoy the moon now."

Indeed, the sun had long since set, and the half moon was beginning it's climb, slowly pulling itself along the stars into the night sky. Petrus tilted his head back against the ruins and drank in the moonlight. His pale skin glowed in it, although the light was limited by the scar tissue on his back. Long lines like rays of a sun marred his flesh, ancient words carved into skin denouncing him as a heretic. Those areas stayed dark and stung whenever the moon attempted to reach them. He closed his eyes when a cloud passed in front of the moon and just breathed, and for a bit the scars stopped hurting. When the cloud had moved on, the pain returned.

He closed his eyes for a bit, resting in the light of the rising moon. And for just a few minutes he allowed himself to forget about the past and future, and just focus on how the chilly air felt on his skin. This state of peace was slowly shattered by the returning memories of how people who enjoyed the moon as he did now were massacred, and how he alone survived the genocide. Although he wasn't completely alone, there was still _her._ There was still Diana. And as he looked up at the moon, he wondered if far away on Mount Targon, she was looking at it as well.

But he had left that life behind, and now he roamed the shifting sands of Shurima. _Doing what exactly?_

* * *

~About Six Years Ago~

Although everything in the room was coated in viscera, the smell of scorched flesh cut through it all, assaulting her nose and almost making her vomit from its intensity. Diana crouched in the middle of it all, armor coated in layers of gore from slaughtering the entire council of Solari and their guards. Off to the side, a young man, little more than a boy, lay on the ground, smoke rising from his back where the ritualistic brands had seared him. She hadn't known there would be anyone else when she returned as the Aspect of the Moon. They were supposed to be erased from history, erased from this world. And yet as clear as the stars, a Lunari boy lay wounded in front of her. As she walked over, she noticed he was more than wounded, the brandings were deep and the gouges in his back would be very open to infection. He was barely breathing at this point, an occasional rasp of breath was the only sign of life.

There beams of moonlight that shone through the broken ceiling illuminated the cuts and then seemed to glow before smoking. He would die if she left him there, if not from the Solari cultists then from his wounds. She sheathed her curved blade at her hip and crouched next to him, rolling him over to pick up. He moaned and grimaced in his sleep as his back touched the ground but she didn't notice. She was focused on the images and voices flashing through her mind

In ethereal wisps of white, people constantly morphed and changed into new images. Two children, a boy and girl, holding hands with a woman who had the mark of the Lunari on her forehead. _Sister. Mother._ The same boy, maybe younger, riding on the shoulders of a Lunari man. _Father._ The man, woman, girl, and boy huddled together around a fire. _Home._ The boy standing off to the side from a bunch of other children as he watched them play. _Different._ The boy scowling as another kid pushed him. _Loud_ The boy crying as his mother wrapped a cut in his knee in bandages. _Hurt._

She knew somehow that the boy was him and that these were memories. Shaking him gently, the visions vanished as if they were never there at all. She lifted him and carried his limp body from the site of the massacre of the council. Towards what? She didn't know, but she had to get them away from the Solari. She had to save the young man, the last of a race. He shifted in her grasp and opened his eyes. He looked up and gazed into her own, before beginning to lightly cry.

"Mom?" he asked.

Diana didn't know what to say, how to respond. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he had already closed his eyes and fallen unconscious again.

* * *

**Randomly decided to import my story from fanfiction, here it is, hope you enjoy, the AO3 story will be updated in tandem with my FF story so no need to slingshot back and forth between the two.**

**My other stories are on my Fanfiction.net profile under the name Cegorach so check them out if you want**


	2. Grazing the Cold Crypt

It had been a dozen moons since their talk of the Void War. Time spent wandering aimlessly across the desert, vaguely heading East towards the distant Kumungu Jungle. During the day, the reflection of the Great Sun Disk shone at his back, and at night, a purple glow from behind the mountains in the South called to him. It had been days since he had last walked along the River Kahleek, and his provisions, especially water, were dangerously low. He needed to go North soon, but the shelter of the southern mountains was a welcome respite from the large groups of raiders in the flatter ground. But the raiders weren't the only thing to be concerned about. He had heard alien screams out in the desert at night many times before, especially recently as his distance from Icathia grew smaller and smaller with each passing day.

Zalia had taught him, or at least tried to teach him how to walk like the desert so as not to attract the beasts which roamed down below. Xer'Sai were _especially_ territorial this far in the South.

The moon was high when he heard the shrieks in the distance. He was trudging over the endless dunes, stumbling up and down the hills leaving flurries of sand behind. Strange clicks and screams mixed with rumbling cut through the night from the distance. He trudged onwards holding the tattered cloak to his shoulders as the wind picked up again before grunting and speeding up.

"Petrus, get to solid ground!" called Zalia from the sling on his back.

"Zalia, there's no solid ground this far north in the Sai!" shouted Petrus as he started climbing up the slope.

"Alternate steps! No patterns!"

Petrus paused and sighed.

One could never be certain with the subterranean creatures, but as long as the pattern of your footsteps was irregular, they might not mind you trespassing on their territory. Instead, you could blend in with the sounds of the desert, the noise of the sand tumbling down the hill in a breeze.

_Step, pause, slide, slide, shuffle, step, shuffle, pause, step, pause, slide._

Suddenly, he stopped at the crest of a dune as he sensed a presence in the distance. Not the mindless noises and hungers of the beasts that crawled and tunneled below, but the touch of a sentient mind. He was startled by a flare of purple light from behind a distant dune, the noise of an explosion reaching him a few seconds later. Then a roar sounded, followed by two more.

"Petrus…. don't," warned Zalia.

"But I felt her- I felt someone!" he said as he began to rush down the dune.

He heard her sigh, she knew she could do nothing to stop him, he knew it too. His pack and torn cloak whistled in the wind behind him. Just one more dune and then he would be there. The fighting was louder now, flashes more frequent. His body stung, but he continued to trudge up the sand. One of the beasts whimpered before it fell silent, more crashes and explosions coming from just beyond the dune. When he reached the top, the sight that greeted him made him stop.

At first he thought they were fighting each other. But then he realized one of the beasts was woman shaped, and was being relentlessly hunted by the two Xer'Sai still crawling. A third creature lay still, large gouges and burns lining the carcass. The woman-beast danced around the creatures, firing blasts of purple energy from crystalline structures around her hands. He opened his mind and knew instantly that she was the one he felt. That she was human underneath the void carapace. But he also sensed a new presence, many new presences, approaching her quickly. He had to warn her, help her. Behind him, the dune exploded as another beast tunneled out of the ground, flying over his head before hitting the sand and continuing to burrow.

"RUN IF YOU WANT TO LIVE! GO!" he screamed as he ran towards her.

She glanced upwards at him and momentarily stopped, allowing one of the Xer'Sai to claw at her side. She hissed, before briefly vanishing and then reappearing in the air behind the beast, a flurry of purple blasts flying into its body. The beast screamed before stuttering to stop and falling. Then he reached her, pulling her wrist and swinging her forward. To their left, a dune began to collapse as more Xer'Sai tunneled up from their warrens towards the commotion. They were going to catch up soon.

Between heavy breaths he wheezed, "I'm gonna…stop them...just keep go...ing, I'll...catch... up."

Her voice was distorted from behind the face-plate, "okay."

He stopped and spun to face the incoming beasts, palms facing towards them and arms away from his body. His eyes rolled back into his head and pale hair began to stand up, followed by small grains of sand beginning to levitate at his feet. Then, he was floating barely more than an inch off the ground but as his concentration grew he continued to rise, faint mumbling coming from the air around him even though his lips weren't moving. The Xer'sai were almost at him before his eyes glowed pure white and small glyphs blinked in and out of existence in an orbit around his head. The glyphs flashed and ancient words of power swept through the valley.

The beasts howled in place as they found themselves unable to move. His eyes returned to normal and he fell to the ground, stumbling slightly before continuing to run. Already, a trickle of blood leaked out of each nostril and his breathing was ragged. The woman had frozen too, although the second he pushed his hand against her back she began to run again, jolted back into reality.

The strange fins on her back glowed a brighter shade of purple and she began to speed up, passing him in moments before reaching her arm out.

"Grab on," she said in her distorted echo.

He hesitated, but then reached out and held her wrist, her hand locking down around his own.

For a second, he saw into her head, and then the world turned upside down and he was falling down…

down…

down…

into the dark below...

* * *

He saw it, beating away in a womb in the core of their world, a malignant growth pulsating with overwhelming hostile intent to consume the imperfection above. Three threads connected it to their world, spiraling downwards for all of infinity. The lines were incandescent, he was drawn to them, he couldn't stop, he was shaking; _something_ was screaming at him. The place, devoid of any light, of any warmth, of anything he could understand, called to him and he drank of it. It tasted acrid, wrong, neither dead nor alive, frigid. He felt numerous presences forcing their way towards him through the constricting nothingness, reaching for his mind, prying it open, taking everything from him. He screamed and his secrets poured from his throat. They drank it. It tasted of silver and rivers and nature and life and stars and blood. The taste was foul, it was the _anathema_ to their cold, dark emptiness.

Something pulled at him, nudging him from the eternal blindness and he reached for it, grabbing on to that single lifeline of sanity. He felt her mind, angry, alone, _afraid._

And he started to rise from the crypt of silence following her voice to the light. It was growing louder but he still couldn't hear it.

"-re-hey-ou okay? -ke up-t!"

He was almost there, but he felt the darkness coiling around his ankles, dragging him down. He kicked and screamed but inky thorns dug into his legs, clawing for purchase, hungering for oblivion. Something bright flared above him and there was a howl of rage and loss before the tendrils let go, retreating to their crushing emptiness.

"Hey! Can you hear me?"

He was on the ground with the woman on her knees leaning over him, her second skin leaving little to imagination. Her purple eyes gazed down at him with… confusion, concern?

"Where a-?"

"Shhhh… rest, you don't look too good."

He was shaking, shivering, everything was cold, devoid of all warmth. His teeth chattered and his breath fogged.

_It was so… empty... he couldn't breath… he couldn't live there… nothing could._

"H-h-helppp… s-s-o coold"

Her eyes flashed in surprise before she sat back. He laid on the ground, convulsing slightly in sheer _wrongness._

After a moment, she slowly pulled him into her lap, hugging him to herself. She rocked slightly but said nothing. He could barely continue breathing as the warmth slowly returned to his body. At some point he nodded off, and dozed gently curled in he lap

Suddenly, a raspy voice sounded from his pack laying on the ground close by,

"Petrus... you stopped breathing for a few minutes."

"Wha- Zalia! Zalia where are you! Where are we?"

The woman startled.

"Who are you talki-"

Zalia interrupted her, "Get away from him you wench."

She recoiled and jumped backwards, resting against the far wall of the cavern but still prepared for a fight.

"Zalia," he groaned before sitting up and reaching into his bag to grasp the book, "shut up, she saved me. I was lost in the cold."

"Lost?" asked Zalia in his grasp.

"In a frozen crypt. It was so dark... _so silent…_ "

"Petrus," she paused as if unsure how to continue, "that's impossible, you can't have been there, it's sealed a-"

Now the woman interrupted Zalia.

"The Void is not as sealed as you once thought it to be… _Sunborn_. The solar wards are dimming, the presence awakens and hungers. Your kind failed, and now you are nothing but abominations."

"Stop fighting!" shouted Petrus at the book in his hand, "now tell me, who are you?"

"My name is Kai'sa," she said.

"Kaisa," he tried, still tired from the out of body experience.

" _Kai'sa,"_ she corrected.

"Kai'sa what were you doing fighting those Xer'sai alone?" he asked

"I've been culling their numbers ever since my village was destroyed. Taking revenge for those that I lost."

"F-for how long?"

"Over ten years now." she said nonchalantly before crossing her chitin-covered arms.

He tried not to seem surprised at the fact that she had been fighting against the Void since she was a child.

"Lately, there were more of them than I'm used to. I appreciate the help, those powers are... _something._ "

"Of course they are, _my_ host's powers haven't been seen in hundreds of years since the Demacian Empath Purges." said Zalia.

He smiled slightly as if to apologize for Zalia. Kai'sa gave a small waifish smile in return. Lying back down on the ground, silver eyes staring at the roof of the cavern, he spoke, "Zalia... it's waking up again."

"I don't know if I can stop it anymore," added Kai'sa, "the Voidborn are becoming much more powerful."

"If what you both say is true, there are only a few alive who can stop this. Petrus, we need to get out of this cave. We have to unite the Sunborn and march on Icathia once more. We need to find the Darkin."

* * *

~About Six Years Ago~

The wounds on his back were beginning to fester, and the rags she had used as bandages were rancid. It had been three days since they had fled from the Solari, down the mountain into the unknown. Diana hadn't known where to go, but a guiding force she couldn't describe had led her towards a cluster of overgrown ruins at the bottom of a ravine. The stone was old, and most of the wood had long since rotted away but even through the decay she could tell that this had once been a Lunari settlement. All of the silver idols and decorations were gone but a few made of now heavily rusted iron remained. The settlement had all of the essentials. Animals she could hunt for food, twigs and small brushes to use for kindling, and a small creek trickling along the edge of the buildings where she washed the boy's wounds twice a day. He had yet to wake up though, hadn't eaten, and had barely drank any water. He wasn't doing well, and it was up to her to save one of the last Lunari on the face of Runeterra. But if his fever didn't let up soon, saving him would be impossible.

She peeled the rags from the wounds on his back and carried them towards the creek to wash them. She submerged each one in the chilling water before laying them out on a flat stone to dry. She then picked up a dry set and took them back, pausing to pick some plant she vaguely remembered helped with infections to use as a salve. All of that was forgotten when she got back to the ruined building where she left the boy.

He was floating a few inches above the bed. Small wisps of light orbited around his prone body as he continued to sleep. Every so often, one would wink out of existence before a new one appeared a few seconds later. The deep wounds on his back were glowing a brilliant white and visibly smoking. His body began to shake as he rotated around until he was facing the ceiling. A small trickle of blood inched from his nostril

She rushed to his side and grabbed him, trying to stabilize him. The nosebleed was easily handled, but she didn't have the faintest idea of what to do about his back.


	3. A Sinister Arrow

Petrus leaned on Kai'sa as they hobbled away from a chittering mass of Voidlings, limping through the passages under the desert. He hadn't realized when the swarm had found them, they just started pouring out of the walls, screaming indecipherably. They'd been stuck down in the tunnels for what felt like days and while Kai'sa's parasite fed her from kills, he was starving, and his waterskin had been empty for hours. To put it simply, he was hours away from delirium, and a day away from death at best.

Every so often, Kai'sa would turn around and fire a blast of plasma towards the encroaching horde. Their death shrieks echoing around the tunnels as they were struck down. During one such counterattack, a larger figure loomed out of the shadows of the passage from behind them. If it weren't for Petrus sensing a sudden blare of hostility, they would have been swiftly bisected by its sweeping claws.

Instead, the beast's brains were splattered onto the cavern wall behind it as it was speared through the head by a javelin of psychic force. Petrus took an unsteady step forward, and the next step didn't reach the ground. He continued to rise off the floor as more invisible spears of psychic energy orbited around him. His eyes flashed white and the unseen weapon shot towards a group of Voidlings attempting to flank Kai'sa. A tremendous crack sounded as it exploded against the ground, throwing up dust. When it settled, each beast was pasted to the ground and walls in a mess of gore.

Petrus didn't stop to look; he was already aiming the next spear. His body was completely still, save for the trickles of blood from his nostrils and his pale hair, which waved in a wind only he could feel. Then his eyes flashed again, and there was an almost imperceptible distortion in the air as another spear flew, colliding into the roof of the cavern and bringing it down on the beasts. His body then rotated and two more spears were flung towards slightly larger beasts, bringing them low. He then opened his mouth to cough, and a splash of blood flew out.

Immediately, his eyes stopped glowing and he fell from his floating position, continuing to cough blood as he got to his feet unsteadily. Kai'sa began to back towards him, coming back to back once they got close enough. Petrus concentrated and held up a weak psychic barrier to keep the hordes from them for a bit. All manner of void creatures loomed in the dark beyond the barrier, hissing and chittering as they waited for something. That something came as a tendril of psychic energy that effortlessly broke through Petrus' barrier and speared his mind, opening it to the Void.

His vision failed and in his mind he saw a malignant tree growing from choked land. Above it were countless stars that caressed it's warped surface with their twinkling light. As the tree grew, it's branches grasped around the stars one at a time, choking them. Most of the stars were too bright to look at, but some he could see. When he concentrated on one, he saw things which had passed long ago, things that had yet to pass, and some things that never had or would.

Desert nomads crossing a land ravaged by war, strange beasts prowling the dunes around them waiting for an opportunity to ambush. Strong electrical storms crackled in the purple sky above them in tune with the strange language of the beasts. A man in purple robes raised his hand and the beasts obeyed, rushing the caravan.

A pale blue sky, with ruins floating around a central vortex. A giant of dark steel and blue fire led hordes of ravenous spirits against the same creatures. By all accounts, they should not have been able to exist there, but quickly evolved, taking on ethereal forms like the spirits. However it did not matter, the titan's mace swept all aside as he roared in fury.

A large statue of marble and gold dragged low by a swarm of small creatures. Blasts of violet energy were shot at it, but the stone seemed to eat them, glowing a dazzling white after each burst. All the same, the gargoyle was dragged low, punching and stomping all the while.

Ships prowling an emerald sea, unknowingly stalked by a twisting monstrosity below in the depths, its purple gaze locked on the ships far above.

Warriors in crimson and black defending three towers from titanic beasts which grew with every kill. An elderly man floated, a demonic figure superimposed on top of him as he drained the life indiscriminately from anything around him, releasing all of the soul energy in a blistering blast.

A man with purple skin fighting alongside warriors with white hair on a snowy battlefield against grey and purple beasts over a glowing stone.

_Not stone. Rune._

The same man again with a red rune, fighting a battle of wills against a tentacled monstrosity.

A vault filled with different colored runes, but so many places empty.

One of the runes, inside a massive disc of gold that floated in the air, channeling solar energy into worthy bodies.

Those same worthy bodies, swollen with power, fighting an endless battle against tides of chittering horrors in a desert stained with blood.

He lost focus and returned to looking at the tree as it continued to choke the life from the stars and planets it grasped, coming ever closer to its desired form. But he could not see the roots.

_He couldn't tell what was below._

The tree was the Void, growing and growing, taking more from each star and planet it found. But why it grew as it did was a mystery to him.

He sensed he was fading from this world with the tree and focused once more on the light that he knew to be Runeterra. He saw four dark figures silhouetted in the dusk as they channeled their very essence into a pulsing pit in the ground, sealing it forever. He tried to look closer and find out how to make this future come true, but he was already gone.

* * *

Petrus gasped as he realized where he was, still back to back with Kai'sa in the caverns below. Not even a moment had passed as his barrier continued to crumble. The beasts were already lunging at them. He reached out both arms in an attempt to keep them away, but the psychic backlash from his barrier failing caused him to scream in pain. The swarm was almost upon them when the ceiling suddenly crumbled and a giant arrow blurred through the air, trailing dark fire behind it. It stabbed through the nearest creature before impacting the ground, sending shrapnel crashing into the creatures nearby.

A dark form dropped from the hole in the ceiling and let out a flurry of arrows, striking down the creatures charging towards them. They never seemed to reload, just pulling their arm back and drawing an arrow from the darkness at the core of their bow. Kai'sa was initially shocked but quickly joined in, bolts of plasma splashing against their chitinous hides.

The figure's features were revealed in the bright flashes- pale purple skin, long silvery hair pulled back into a ponytail, a red gem in their forehead. A somewhat muscular chest covered slightly by a scarf. He smiled as he noticed Petrus looking at him before glancing at Zalia.

"Hello sister," he said, "I've been looking for you for a long time."

"Varus," cackled Zalia, "always a displeasure, brother."

Kai'sa turned her head while still firing and asked, "Varus, as in the Darkin Archer?"

"The one and same," grumbled Zalia, "we are _blessed_ by his presence."

"I take it you don't like each other?" Petrus asked as the white spots started to disappear in his vision.

"You could say that," chuckled Varus, "and who might you be? Is the mystical Zalia too weak to fully corrupt her host?"

"Don't speak of what you don't understand Varus, I make agreements with my hosts. I don't just take their bodies. And also, was one host not enough Varus?"

"Normally I'd say yes, but these were special circumstances and I couldn't help decline the morsels in front of me."

"Disgusting…" muttered Zalia, before her presence faded away slightly.

Between Varus and Kai'sa, the rest of the Voidborn were quickly cut down.

" _Petrus,"_ spoke Zalia in his mind, " _I'm going to need to hijack your body for a little bit. He won't listen to a mortal, even if it is the host of someone he Ascended with."_

" _Do whatever is necessary. Thanks for asking,"_ he thought back.

There was a crackling as the chitin on his back spread along his body, covering both his arms in sharp plates and claws. The corruption began to creep up his throat and his eyes began to glow red.

" **Varus,"** she said, " **the Void is returning, we need your help finding the other Darkin to end it once and for all."**

"There she is," he said with a smirk before the hard plates along his arms and legs spread further along his body, " **I can do this too sister."**

" **Well brother, what do you say, will you lend us your bow?"**

" **Of course sister, why did you think I came searching for you? I've seen the Blight's expansion. And I've also seen a certain Scythe we both know and love somewhere in the Noxian countryside."**

" **Rhaast, oh how I've missed our mutual associate."**

* * *

~About Six Years Ago~

From where she was cooking a few small animals over a small fire, Diana looked up at the mysterious boy she had rescued. He sat at the top of a wall where the ceiling had rotted away. He had woken up the day before, but aside from thanking her with a voice raspy from disuse, he hadn't said anything else. He barely ate, barely drank, and his fever still hadn't gone away. He just stared at the horizon all day and night, shoulder length hair rustling in the wind slightly.

She focused on what she was cooking and was surprised when he finally spoke.

"This isn't my time… is it?" he asked.

She had had suspicions. He seemed to know his way through the ruins. And there had been no record of any Lunari being alive for hundreds of years.

"Where are our people?" he asked as he turned around.

And she couldn't find it in her heart to tell the boy that she wasn't even Lunari, and that he was completely alone. She just climbed up to him and hugged him as he began to cry.

When the moon began to rise, pale memories flickered into existence around the village. Memories manifested of people long gone.


	4. The Millennium Blade I

Petrus and Kai'sa sat at the top of a dune, moon high above them. Varus was somewhere above them on a higher dune, keeping watch for any marauders or raiders, or anything worse.

"We're going to need money," said Petrus.

"Why would we need money?" asked Kai'sa.

"Getting to Noxus quickly isn't gonna be cheap, and we'll need to get food there and get clothes that blend in. Between a Darkin, Void Parasite, and ragged Lunari, we kind of stand out."

"I suppose you're ri-"

Kai'sa was interrupted by the sound of Varus' bowstring being pulled back as an arrow was torn into reality.

"No, no, no." hissed Petrus as he sprinted up the dune, followed quickly by Kai'sa.

There were people nearby, he could sense it. Killing a beast was okay, but a person… that didn't sit right with him, especially if it wasn't in self-defense.

He spotted Varus, aiming at something and tried to pull him back with psychic energy but was too far away, instead grabbing sand and throwing it towards him. Varus turned towards Petrus and smirked, before releasing the charged up arrow.

Petrus got to the top and sunk to his knees up witnessing the carnage.

A wagon was in a valley between rows of dunes below. The driver had a hole blasted through his chest where Varus' arrow had smashed through, splintering the wood behind him. From the point, chains of Darkin corruption had spread to the caravan guards, causing their flesh to petrify into a charcoal-like substance. It had taken only a second to kill a dozen people, not soulless beasts, but living and thinking individuals.

Bizarrely, the animals were untouched, kicking at the ground restlessly, no doubt startled by the loud noise of splintering wood.

Varus began to walk down the slope towards the wagon, speaking over his shoulder. "Got money, transportation, and clothes. Thank me later."

Petrus and Kai'sa followed him down.

"Doesn't mean you had to kill innocent people Varus," said Petrus.

"Innocent?" asked Varus upon reaching the wagon, "I wouldn't say _that._ "

He tugged on a chain dragging from the back of the wagon, pulling a large number of shackles out of the interior. Then he crouched over one of the corpses and gestured to the whip on the waistband.

"Nothing to feel sorry over, these were slavers."

Petrus said nothing, he had been wrong, slaver lives were worth nothing.

Kai'sa stepped up into the interior of the wagon and returned moments later with a locked box, handing it to Petrus. He held out his hand and it began to float. With a screech the lock was ripped off, flying away in shreds, and the now unlocked strongbox slowly sunk into his hand.

Varus smirked, "nice trick you've got there."

Petrus said nothing and opened the chest to reveal small gems and coins of all types. Varus began to laugh.

"What was that you said we needed Petrus? My, Zalia you really could have done better with a host ."

"Varus, shut up," said Zalia, finally speaking up, as Petrus climbed up into the wagon before helping up Kai'sa.

"Guess I'm driving," said Varus.

* * *

~Two Weeks Later~

"Hmm," mused Varus, "I had expected it to be, well, you know, darker?"

The Immortal Bastion loomed on the horizon, eating all light around it. Coated in fortifications, portcullis, and minarets, the massive fortress was ever-present, no matter what one focused on. The entire city of Noxus Prime was build from it, the older buildings sharing much of the same styles but the furthest buildings were much more diverse and varied, much like the people who inhabited them.

One thing that never changed regardless of the area were the crimson banners and flags that hung from everything, Noxians were a proud group of people, and they liked to show it.

Long passageways and walls spread out from the Immortal Bastion, entryways into the structure popped up all over the city, all heavily guarded with multiple checkpoints inside. It would be impossible for three strangers from Shurima to get into one of those, and so Petrus opened his mind, sensing for any lingering magic that would affect someone's mind. After hours of riding the cart around the city, he finally sensed a brief presence on a solid wall. He tried to knock on it with his hand and it vanished in partly before hitting a second wall.

Varus squinted and got off of the cart, walking over towards the wall before pressing lightly on one of the stones. An almost imperceptible grinding noise sounded as the wall behind the illusion slid into an alcove and the three of them entered the catacombs of the Immortal Bastion.

They had no reference of where to go, only the angle towards the Bastion that they had gotten above ground. The hallways were slightly cramped and dimly lit by oil lamps and torches. Occasionally, a hallway would widen out to a large room with multiple pillars in it, no doubt to support the fortifications and towers on the ground above them. They were in one such room, when Petrus paused, before quickly motioning for the three of them to hide behind some pillars as he sensed a large group of people getting closer.

A large platoon of soldiers dressed in obsidian armor and crimson capes and robes sprinted into the room on one side, a smaller group with what appeared to be a captain came in from another door.

"We've found them!" shouted the captain.

Varus began to draw back his arm, dark energy coalescing in his bow.

"No," hissed Petrus, "wait!"

Varus reluctantly let go of the arrow and it dissipated into the air. The captain continued, "They've been spotted under the Eastern Tower! Go there now! We'll gather reinforcements."

Petrus waited until both groups had run from the room before starting to creep out.

"Do you think that's Rhaast?" asked Petrus.

"Knowing him, probably," said Varus from behind him.

Petrus stopped. There were four people in the room, not three.

"Oh my," said a voice that started like Varus' but got more feminine with each word, "you really are a perceptive one, and quite a good looking one too. I may just have to keep you when this is all over."

The sight that greeted him was surprising, to say the least. Varus and Kai'sa were chained and gagged to the pillars, while a woman with short black hair, clothed in leather straps and little else save for an elaborate headdress, stood in the place Petrus thought Varus was in.

"I'm LeBlanc, but you, just you, can call me Evaine. What's your name sweety?"

He glared at her and she smirked in response, giggling before blinking away.

"Ooh, you're special aren't you" she moaned behind him, "it's been _so_ long since I've had a Lunari. Where have you been hiding from me?"

His eyes glowed white as he began to channel his psychic energy.

"I don't suppose you can't just let my friends go and forget about us?"

"No, I don't think I can." snickered LeBlanc, before an incandescent chain of gold flew towards him.

Petrus threw his hand to the side and a wave of force threw the chain in the direction. She giggled before disappearing again. Reappearing off to the side, LeBlanc laughed again before a blast of eldritch energy blinded him, and then there were two of the woman, both jeering at him and blinking around the room.

Chains began flying faster than he could counter them, impacting his body and leeching the life from his limbs, replacing it with a cold, numb feeling. He tried to sense which one was the real LeBlanc and threw a lance of energy at it but she just swapped with her clone and dodged it. He was brought low in moments, chains flowing from his body to points in the ground.

She sauntered over to him and leaned over, mouth right next to his ear. "Honey you really had to have tried harder than that, you were sloppy."

Corruption began to overtake his body and his eyes shifted from white to dark crimson. Zalia spoke up, " _That's because he was alone, now I'm helping."_

A violent pulse of physical energy blasted from his body, throwing the chains off. LeBlanc was disoriented, having been almost at ground zero of the pulse. He readied his hand, another lance forming and threw it.

LeBlanc swapped places with her clone, just in time for the spear to impact the pillar she was hiding behind and send her careening into the wall. She groaned, blood trickling before smiling at him, blowing a kiss before disappearing into gold dust, quickly dissipating away. The second she disappeared, Kai'sa's and Varus' bindings vanished with her and they collapsed to the floor from their contorted positions. Petrus helped them to their feet.

"Let's follow those soldiers," suggested Kai'sa, "seems like a good lead."

"Very intuitive wench," sniggered Varus.

She recoiled from him but said nothing. The three of them quickly moved into the hallway the knights ran into. After a few minutes, the sounds of battle began to grow louder.

A pale man with a dark scythe was massacring the soldiers, surrounded by mounds of bodies. He bisected one with a quick movement before spinning the scythe around, throwing it into the air as he vanished into another one of the soldiers.

The soldier began to scream before the scythe came down, following the man through his body and erupting out of the other side in a fountain of gore. The man laughed at their fear before sinking into the floor and reappearing behind two other soldiers, whispering into one's ear before cleaving them both to pieces. In seconds he had dealt with the current squads and whirled to face Petrus, Kai'sa, and Varus.

The scythe suddenly came alive, growing larger and beginning to emit red light from the foot of the blade. An eye came into focus and twitched before settling on the three of them. Spikes erupted from the blade and pole and Darkin corruption began to creep up the man's arm.

" **Alright Kayn, I let you have your fun, now it's my turn."**

The corruption increased in pace, quickly covering his whole body. He rotated his shoulders and bent his neck, creating a crack as the new body finished its transformation. Coated in thick, black bone-like plates of armor that had all manner of spines and horns on them, a flat, shark-like face in a perpetual sneer of disdain. Two smoldering pits of bloodlust took the place of his eyes while rows of jagged fangs gnashed in anticipation.

" **Much better… how are you, cousins? Zalia, Varus, did you come just to die just like the ones before?"**

He threw back his head and laughed, before sprinting towards the three of them, scythe and body screaming for blood.

* * *

~About Six Years Ago~

The boy hadn't talked much to her since finding out that he was the only one of his people left. Just thanked her whenever she gave him food or water or changed the dressings on his wounds.

She wanted to, no, she needed to find out the past of a people she adored so much. This time, when she brought him food, she stayed. And then she spoke.

"Is it okay if I sit with you?"

He nodded and she sat down on the rubble next to him.

"How old do you think you are?" she asked.

"I don't know, I think, I think I'm sixteen. I was in that cell for maybe ten years of my time, but it was hard to tell with no windows."

If he was really sixteen, that only made him a bit over half a decade younger than her.

"Were you in pain? Did they hurt you, feed you?"

"Yes, but they fed me, different people though, always different people every few weeks. Sometimes the Solari heads would come to me, they changed too."

He had begun to open up, which was good, she decided to ask a more specific question.

"How many heads of the Solari visited you."

"All of them. We used to talk, they would ask me about the Moon, and tell me about the Sun."

All of them… there was only one head of the church at a time.

"Do you remember what the name of the first one to visit you was?"

"Yes, his name was Arkales."

She thought back to the lessons every Solari child learned, on the history of the church. Arkales had been the head of the Solari over three hundred years ago.

It took all of her willpower to not gasp, or silently sob for this boy lost in time.


	5. The Millennium Blade II

Rhaast swung his scythe aggressively, burning a screaming trail through the air until it caught on the stone floor and sent up a series of sparks and screeches. He snarled before wrenching it out of the ground, raising it above his head. Kai'sa used this moment to slash at him with one of her crystal gauntlets only to vault away before sending a flurry of missiles at him.

He hunkered down and weathered the storm until he suddenly lunged for her, talons stopping only inches away from her throat before a wave of psychic energy sent him flying back, followed by rapid-fire arrows from Varus.

Rhaast began to spin his scythe in a circle in front of him, shredding apart the arrows as he started walking towards the three of them. Varus stopped firing, only to begin charging a larger arrow. Upon seeing this, Rhaast stopped guarding and entered into a full sprint straight at them. Petrus tried to force him back again, but instead felt reverberations in his head from using his powers too much, and was brought to his knees by the pain.

Kai'sa spared him a concerned look before dashing to another angle in order to fire at Rhaast. Unfortunately, his thick hide soaked up most of the shots before they could do any lasting damage. Varus released the now-massive arrow and it soared through the room towards Rhaast. He tried to cut it into pieces like the others but the destructive impact was too much and it skewered him in the chest, sending him flying backward and impacting the wall, pinning him there.

"Rhaast, stop now!" screamed Zalia.

He laughed but said nothing, instead opting to pull himself off of the arrow. Grunts and groans, as well as a few chuckles, filled the room and with a disgusting screech, he got the arrow out of him. He then once again sprinted at them and redoubled his assault with renewed vigor. Varus fired another massive arrow but this time Rhaast turned translucent and it flew through him, cracking the stone pillar it hit. Kai'sa fired all manner of bio-plasma at him but Rhaast didn't care even as his plates began to bubble and warp from the intense heat. Between Varus, Kai'sa, and Petrus, they just didn't have enough close quarters expertise to fight Rhaast, and in such an enclosed area, couldn't create space.

Unless they wanted to get completely obliterated by Rhaast in a matter of seconds, they needed a new strategy.

Petrus grunted as he focused on Rhaast's mind, attempting to wrest it from his body. His eyes flashed a bright white that lit up the room in from of him and he coughed, sending blood splattered to the floor in front of him. Rhaast's body was brutally strong, but his mind was easily vulnerable in the midst of his bloodlust. As Petrus made a connection and hooked himself around their minds, Rhaast and Petrus simultaneously collapsed to the floor…

...

...And then suddenly they were standing in a pale, dark space. Both were ghostly and ethereal, moving in smooth motions that trailed thoughts and soul fragments.

Rhaast howled and barreled towards Petrus, scythe furiously roaring through the air, trailing shards of apocalyptic visions behind it. It passed right through Petrus as if he wasn't there. He swung again and again, each time no more effective than the others. So lost in the desire to kill, he couldn't comprehend that he was no longer in the physical world. His actions no longer had the same impact as they did there.

Petrus raised his hand and his eyes and palm began to glow. A line of long-forgotten arcane symbols blinked into orbit around Petrus before soaring towards Rhaast. Each impact sent slivers of the Darkin's armor flying into the abyss.

As the last one hit Rhaast, he snarled and contorted before splitting in two figures- him and Kayn.

Kayn looked as he was in the material world. But Rhaast was in his true form. Gone was the cruel visage of a demonic being, instead he was the Ascended he had once been. A towering minotaur-like creature with long, glistening horns.

A glowing Zalia gracefully floated down next to him but Petrus couldn't make out what she was through the bright light. Rhaast saw her and roared but she flew towards him and touched him, sending the two of them away to someplace else.

Then it was just Petrus and Kayn. He looked only a few years older than Petrus, his black hair long and tangled, skin tanned with many scars. He seemed confused, and after a long silence finally spoke.

"Where… am I? What did you do to me!?"

"We are in the space between our minds," Petrus answered calmly.

"How?" he demanded, brows furrowing.

"I brought us here, Rhaast would have killed us."

At the name Rhaast, a series of unknown emotion passed over Kayn's face before he finally settled on a scowl.

"And why are we here? So you can kill me instead? This may be your battlefield, but I promise I won't go down without drawing blood."

"Quite the opposite. The Void is returning to Runeterra, and unless we can work together, we will not be able to stop it again."

"Everyone knows that the Void is just a children's tale, meant to keep them in bed. You can't expect me to believe in something so juvenile."

"If only it were so. But I will show you that it is not."

Petrus raised his hands and more glyphs appeared in the pale light around him, coalescing into an ever-changing shape before spinning towards Kayn. Kayn remained still as they floated towards him, but flinched immediately after impact, as a series of images flashed through his mind. The very same images that Petrus had seen in his visions now plagued Kayn.

After a few seconds, Petrus ended the flow and Kayn sunk to his knees.

"Wha- I don't get it."

"That is the foe we face. Rhaast has faced them before, he hurt them even, forced them back with his blood and sweat. And the Void remembers the pain. You may not seek the Void out, but in time, it will come for Rhaast... and you."

Kayn scowled.

"You can be hunted or you can join us and end this threat once and for all."

Kayn stood still in thought for a while before he spoke.

"Until the Void is sealed away once and for all, I will work with you. And I know others who will fight as well."

"In that case, welcome to our little crusade, Kayn."

With that, the space around them collapsed down until it was a pinprick of light, and with the roar of reality clashing together they were back in the material world. Rhaast shuddered and then the corruption began to flow away from one side of his body until it was half Kayn and half Rhaast.

Petrus pushed himself to his feet and sent a mental message to Zalia.

What did you say to Rhaast to get him to agree to join up?

I just told him we were going to be fighting Aatrox. The two of them despise each other.

Kai'sa and Varus were both still pointing their weapons at the unmoving Kayn but Petrus waved them down, still too exhausted to tell them out loud. He felt something on his face and wiped below his nose with the back of his hand, smearing some sort of wetness around. He looked down and saw that his hand was covered in blood so dark it was almost black.

The two of them complied and lowered their weapons, but still stayed slightly tensed.

All of the sudden, Rhaast's deep voice filled the room.

"All you had to say was that I was going to get the chance to fight Aatrox."

"The idea is to get Aatrox on our side, which… I am aware is probably not going to happen. In that case... yes... you will get to fight him." Said Petrus.

At that moment, a doorway to the room was flung open and heavily armored knights accompanied by a large man with a massive ax rushed into the room, followed by an elderly looking man in a large coat.

The older man spoke in a rich voice.

"What is the meaning of this? Surrender your weapons immediately, or face obliteration!"

* * *

~About Six Years Ago~

They had now spent over a month at the Lunari ruins and Diana was happy to say that she and Petrus had gotten closer. There was still much he had not told her- his powers, large parts of his past, and more. But she had her own secrets as well. And yet with each passing day, she found herself drawn closer to this time-lost boy.

Diana stared out at the valley below the village from where she sat atop a decrepit building.

Petrus spoke up from behind her.

"I've seen you practicing with that sword… I want you to teach me how to fight… I need to know how to protect myself."

Diana mused over what he said. She was half a decade older than him and in much better shape. If he really wanted to learn, Petrus would need to start training his body.

"I'll accept on a few conditions. From now on, you come with me whenever I go running. We're also going to be doing a lot of exercises to train your body. And you're going to need to be honest with me if I'm pushing you too hard, I don't want you to get hurt."

"That's fine by me. When do we start Diana?"

* * *

~Two Months Later~~

They spent two more months in their little village. During that time, Petrus had accompanied her on a run every morning. After eating a small meal, they then stretched and worked on his core. After a small rest, they would practice dueling with large sticks Diana had taken from a forest a little ways below the village. After that, Petrus would exercise his body more through stretches and drills or by clearing away rubble from some of the spaces. After clearing away a large enough space, she had him start a farm and toil in it every day.

He had filled out a lot and had tanned slightly. He was no longer the skinny child she had rescued. Petrus was becoming a young man.

Her thoughts were interrupted by him when he asked if they could duel.

She turned around and smiled: "Of course."

Instead of the sticks they normally used for fighting, Petrus had her sword and a rusty blade. When she shot him a questioning glance, he laughed slightly and said: "I found this when clearing one of the buildings, I think it's time we finally used real blades."

She had trained him with her sword occasionally, so he was no stranger to the weight of a real weapon, and yet she didn't want him to get hurt in any way.

"Come on Di, I know I'm ready."

"If you think so Petrus."

Which was why they found themselves across from each other in a cleared out space, Diana with her crescent blade and Petrus with an ancient Lunari sword. He gave it a couple of experimental swings and twirls before smiling at her.

"Don't go too easy on me!"

She smirked back.

"Never."

Then, she dashed towards him and swung her sword. He brought his own up to parry and the blades gave a familiar clang. Too familiar. Her arms jolted slightly after the collision and then she was back there, in the Solari temple.

She had massacred the elders with the crescent blade. Solari soldiers lay butchered at her feet, while their brethren prowled around her. And then she stepped forward and spoke.

"Die, traitor."

Leona.

Diana howled and swung at the one who had once called her sister. The one she trusted above all else. The one who reported her to the elders for her heretical studies into the moon.

Petrus knew her mind wasn't in the present. He knew she was back in the temple, fighting for her life.

"Di! Diana! Listen to me! You're not there anymore! You're here, with me! You're safe."

She gave no indication of hearing him, grunting and swinging harder and harder. His arms hurt from every impact and soon he knew he wouldn't be able to parry anymore. He was desperate, he felt as if he was going to die. She kicked out his leg and he fell backward. She raised her blade above her head with an unseeing sneer and then something inside his head snapped and everything was white. Everything hurt and he screamed louder than he ever had before, yet no sound came out. He screamed her name and nothing at all. The noise did not carry on the wind, it crashed through her brain.

*Diana*

She stopped.

She was back. Her blade was about to come down on Leona.

NO!

Not Leona, it was Petrus! He was on the ground, she almost killed him! His eyes were shut and he was shaking.

What was she doing?

Diana sobbed and dropped her sword, before crashing to her knees next to him. At the noise of her hitting the ground, his eyes opened and she saw that they were an incandescent white.

She choked and whispered: "I'm sorry. I didn't… I couldn't…"

His eyes stopped glowing and he began to cry too.

She threw herself at him and buried her face in his shoulder, as sobs wracked through her body.

He hugged her back and the two of them sat there, crying together at the traumas they had faced at the hands of the Solari who now mercilessly hunted them.

* * *

**Big news even though nobody reads this part!**

**I started a discord server for League of Legends fanfic enthusiasts like myself so feel free to come by and say hello! I'd love to play some games with fans and just get to know ya'll.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**(if the link doesn't work, feel free to PM me and I'll get one to you!)**


	6. Swords in the Snow I

The two parties stood and faced each other. The Darkin and Kai'sa eyed the elite Noxians. The tension was palpable and the entire room tasted of mistrust, fear, and anger to Petrus. The large Noxian with the massive ax grumbled something under his breath before shouldering another soldier out of his way and stepping towards them. The elderly man in the large coat held up his hand and the warrior paused.

"You will tell me who you are, or I can flay it from your souls in our dungeons."

"Is it not evident?" chuckled Varus, "We're Darkin. We're here looking for this one," he said as he pointed at Kayn. Petrus glanced back and noticed that Rhaast's corruption had once again fully covered Kayn's body.

Rhaast, or Kayn, it was hard to tell at this point, twirled his scythe before slamming the heel into the ground. The large eyeball at the beard of the blade twitched around before widening as it focused on the soldiers. The entire scythe began to vibrate and the spikes on the blade trembled in anticipation of bloodshed. Rhaast's eyes scoped out the room looking for potential targets.

The elderly man pulled his arm out of his coat and Petrus noticed it was covered in crimson energy. He spoke up.

"Wait, are you a Dark-"

"No, I am not a Darkin."

They waited for him to continue on the subject, he did not. Instead, he asked, "and why did looking for this one," he said, pointing at Rhaast, "necessitate the breaking and entering of the Immortal Bastion, and the slaughtering of my soldiers."

"It did not..."

"Swain. Jericho Swain."

"Swain, the search for Rhaast did not need to include your soldiers but it did. And for that you have my apology-"

"Oh so you apologize for slaughtering two platoons of Trifarians?" said the large man speaking up.

Swain looked over his shoulder, "Darius, not now."

"I understand how little this apology means while we stand knee-deep in the bodies of your butchered men. But we have a higher purpose."

"Oh, and what might that be?" asked Swain.

Petrus glanced back at his companions, Kai'sa had her suit completely sealed over her face, Varus's corruption had spread throughout his host body, and Rhaast was still trembling in anticipation for slaughter. Zalia was silent, as was becoming normal for her these days.

"The Darkin were once much more than they- than we are today. The Ascended marched on an enemy so sinister, so terrifying, so devoid that it eroded their sanity even after it had been sealed away. Exposure to the Great Enemy nearly brought Shurima to its knees and now it is coming back."

"Yes, yes. I know about the Great War. I know about the Enemy, the Void. I know all of this and I ask again, why are my soldiers dead at your feet?"

"We needed to get him. Without the Ascended and Darkin at our back, we cannot hope to defeat the Void again. After it devours Shurima, it will come North, drawn by the scent of your magics."

Swain paused and stroked his chin in thought.

"Yes, that would prove… _problematic._ I suppose that I could forget this in the face of a common enemy."

Petrus was confused, "Common enemy?"

"Why yes… after all, if you don't defeat the Void at its entry point, the entire world is poised to fall. When the last hour is upon you… call out… and Noxus will answer."

"What?" asked Varus.

"Is he simple?" Swain asked Petrus, without looking at Varus, to which Petrus shook his head in a negative.

Rhaast chuckled a bit before Varus shot him a glare, mouthing something about it being his fault they were even here in the first place. At that moment, a soldier in leather armor ran up to Swain and whispered to him. Petrus heard something about "Iron Revenant" and "Awakening" but didn't understand the context.

"It would seem I have more pressing issues to attend to at the moment," said Swain as he wrapped himself in his billowing coat before heading towards the door, accompanied by his soldiers and Darius.

He pointed to one of the soldiers, "escort our guests out of the city proper, tell anyone who challenges you that they will have to answer to me."

The soldier nodded and beckoned for them to follow. He said nothing, and they asked nothing in return. Instead, they opted to watch their surroundings, still suspicious of the sudden welcoming and pledge of alliance they had received. After about half an hour, they exited the catacombs and hallways of the Immortal bastion onto a mostly abandoned street. By the time they stepped out, the Darkin had returned to more normal forms.

By some miracle or eldritch adaptation, Varus remembered where they were and was able to lead them to where they had left the cart. Luckily for them, it was still there, and the soldier left them as they climbed into the cart and left the city.

After hours of taking turns riding in the back and driving the cart, Kayn spoke up.

"The girl can't come with us."

"And why's that?" asked Petrus.

"You really think delivering a perfectly suitable host to Aatrox is a good idea? I don-"

Rhaast decided to speak up, "I don't care if your friend gets snuffed out, I just want to kill Aatrox as easily- no _as messily_ as possible. Bring her along."

Varus cackled from where he sat driving the cart before speaking.

"You fucking _re'shalik,_ now he'll never bring her along _._ "

Petrus didn't need to speak ancient Shuriman to understand what Varus was saying. He also understood that Kai'sa would not be safe here, and he hoped she did too. He turned to her and before she could open her mouth, he spoke.

"You can't come with us."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And who's deciding that?"

"Me, us, it doesn't matter. Aatrox feeds off of humans, you'll just be helping him."

Rhaast's corruption surged throughout Kayn and he chuckled deeply. "Lighten up boy, bring the girl. It'll be fun to kill Aatrox twice, once in his body, once in her's."

Kai'sa scowled at that and then looked into his eyes. After a moment, her expression softened.

"So," she said with a small smile, "Darkin only, I guess?"

He nodded and gave a nervous grin, "Yeah, it would appear as though that would be best."

Varus stopped the cart and they all got out. Kayn leaned against the side of the wagon while Varus walked over with a slight hunch, pulling his scarf absentmindedly. Kai'sa stood across from Petrus, donning a robe to cover her Void parasite before brushing some hair out of her face. He handed her a bag with some provisions which she declined. She put her hand on his shoulder but he flinched slightly causing her to pull back.

"Uh… habits," he said sheepishly, "sorry."

"I'm sorry too… uh, take care Petrus."

"You as well Kai'sa. We'll need help in the final days, I hope you'll be there to assist us."

She gave a full smile, "a chance to fight against the Void? I wouldn't dream of missing it."

She looked to Kayn and he nodded, Varus said nothing. With that, she turned away and began to walk towards the distant Shurima, leaving only the three Darkin behind.

* * *

~3 Weeks Later~

"Rhaast you look mad, what's got you down _buddy_?" snickered Varus.

Rhaast reached out and grabbed Varus by the throat before smashing him into the side of the wagon.

" **That's my normal face you fuck!"** he screamed, " **Want to see it up close?"**

Rhaast reared back before slamming his shark-faced head into Varus's with a crack. The gem in the archer's forehead began to glow and the crystalline corruption spread until his entire body was covered in purple. He pulled back his fist to throw a punch but the two of them were sent flying by a wave of psychic force.

"Would the two of you shut up and sit still?" screamed an equally corrupted Petrus.

Varus said nothing and remained still. Rhaast began to tremble as his claws extended. He got on one knee before another wave of force slammed into him. He rolled again and did not get up, this time the corruption receded.

"Come on man, you know I can't control him when he's angry," whined a facedown Kayn, "and yet it still hurts just as bad afterwards.

He pushed himself off the ground.

"Fuck, it's cold," he complained as he rubbed his bare arms.

Petrus breathed in. It _was_ cold. This was good, it meant they were making much better progress into the Freljord.

"Then put a shirt on idiot." snapped Varus.

Kayn looked at him and his eyes glowed red but a raised hand from Petrus caused him to stop. The raised hand continued to move until it was pinching Petrus's nose.

"Varus, you are _not_ making this easy."

"Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you wanted me to play nice."

"I do, and you _will._ " hissed Petrus.

His voice was sharper than stones under swift water. He was done with the selfish and abrasive attitudes of the two. Like children squabbling over the last piece of cake, a cacophony of constant ringing had been driving nails into his mind for the past three weeks.

-Get in the cart-

"I'm still cold though." muttered Kayn, who made no further effort to move.

**-Get in the cart-**

Petrus's eyes flashed and the two wordlessly walked towards the cart as if their wills were not their own.

Zalia finally spoke up in his mind.

" _Petrus do you know what you just did?"_

"No, but whatever it is, I'm thankful, I'm sick of their bickering."

Once the two got into the cart, it seemed as though a fog lifted from their minds and they looked around with confused looks on their faces.

" _You just bent their minds to your will."_

Petrus stopped and thought about what he had just done. It horrified him. As he climbed unto the front of the wagon, he vowed to himself that he would _never_ do something like that again. Mind Reading was one thing, but Mind Bending was another beast. That was dabbling into "Dark" Magicks, a place Petrus did not want to go.

He spent a good few hours thinking about the repercussions of this and was deep in thought that he missed the graveyard until they were on top of it.

No, not grave. This was a battlefield.

Varus and Kayn got out of the cart after it stopped.

"This is Aatrox's work," said Varus, "He's close. I can practically smell the dark sorceries he contains."

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

They hadn't tried any more sparring with real swords since that incident. They had also tried to move past it, but the tension was definitely still there. Diana herself still practiced her sword forms with her crescent blade, but refused to use it to spar with him.

She was currently practicing while Petrus built up more strength by clearing rocks. He could feel the sadness and anger radiating off of her in waves. He didn't know how or why he did, but it was having an impact on him as well.

Diana practiced familiar forms that she had never truly been taught as she thought about the climb to the peak of Mount Targon. She thought about the scorching moonfire that forced its way into her and drowned her in liquid silver. Of the weight of the moonstone blade in her hand, and how it felt as it slammed into its golden counterpart.

She heard something behind her and her breath quickened. She whirled to face whatever Ra-Horak assassin had come to kill her but stopped herself. It was just Petrus. She took a deep breath and tried to remember that she was here, in the present, with him.

"Hey Petrus, what did you need."

"I… I-uh can feel your sorrow and rage."

"What?"

"I think, I can feel things that other people feel and uh…"

"Petrus are you okay? You aren't making any sense. Talk to me."

"No Diana you have to listen to me," he raised his voice and put his hand on her shoulder, "I thi-"

As soon as he touched her, his body went rigid and his eyes glowed a brilliant white.

And then he felt her. Her emotions, her thoughts, every fiber of her being ran through his head. He was there, the night it all happened. The night she met him. He saw his body covered in chains and burns and bruises, surrounded by Solari. He saw as they called him a heretic and then pointed at Diana. He watched as she carved them to pieces with moonfire and blessed silver. He felt her sadness at each person she cut down. She had known every single one of them, and they called her _monster_. He understood her feelings of being an abomination, her anger at this fueled his own.

His hand fell off of her shoulder. She had seen everything he had. In that second of contact their minds had been linked. A series of emotions passed over her face before it settled as anger.

"Stay out of my head Petrus." she said before turning away.

* * *

**I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.**

**Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.**


	7. Swords in the Snow II

A valley lay in front of them. In that valley there were anywhere between fifty to seventy bodies. It was hard to tell due to how ripped apart everything was. A layer of light snow had fallen on top of the trampled and bloodstained mire left behind leaving everything in a mixture of pink and red.

Petrus glanced at Kayn.

"I thought _he_ was bad?" he asked gesturing to the scythe in his hand, "but _this_ …"

"I _am_ bad," said Rhaast, somehow lacking some of his arrogance in front of the carnage left in Aatrox's wake.

Colossal footprints led up the slope of the valley on the other side and they began to follow them. It was lightly snowing, and Petrus was glad they had traded a bit with a traveling merchant to get some winter clothes. He didn't have much, but the fur linings of the coat he wore kept part of the cold out. Although preferring to go shirtless, even Kayn had put something on.

The footprints were so deep that the snow was having trouble filling them. It also meant that they could have been recent, and after seeing what Aatrox had done, Petrus was starting to have second thoughts about finding him.

Zalia spoke in his mind.

" _But this is necessary Petrus."_

"I know… but," he looked behind him at the two Darkin, "will we be able to fight him?"

Varus was trudging through the snow, body covered in crystal to keep out the cold. While it didn't really affect him, his body could still take damage from exposure and he was trying to protect it. Kayn on the other hand was having some difficulty getting through the shin-height snow.

Varus turned around as well to look at Kayn behind him.

"What's the matter, boy? Having trouble?"

Kayn said nothing but Petrus noticed that Rhaast began to vibrate. Varus noticed as well and smirked, before continuing forward. The snow around them began to increase and he heard Rhaast spread throughout Kayn's body. Zalia did as well.

The three Darkin began to increase speed and Petrus appreciated being able to sit back and let Zalia navigate for a bit. He opened his mind and began to scan the surroundings for anything. He felt Zalia on top of him and sensed Rhaast and Kayn behind him. Kayn's mind was much more repressed now that Rhaast was in control for the moment. He also sensed Varus as well as the mind of his host body although it was almost undetectable. He peered closer at it and was surprised to realize that there were two minds in addition to Varus, but then remembered a comment Zalia had made about two hosts. He wondered about the logistics of that and if it were even possible.

"If you're looking for any thoughts from Aatrox, you'll be searching for a while. He doesn't have much going on up there anymore." chuckled Varus.

Rhaast laughed as well, "he always was the dumbest."

"No Rhaast, that was you." retorted Varus and Rhaast snarled.

He felt Zalia look behind her and their shape gaze fell on the bickering Darkin.

"Shut up and walk, you two are insufferable."

" _Zalia, stop."_ sent Petrus, " _I feel something."_

A massive surge of negative emotions was coming from their left. Wordlessly, they began to head towards it. They stepped into a small strand of frost-covered trees and weaved between the gnarled trunks. Although it made traversing harder, they were thankful for the minimal protection from the biting wind. On the other side of the trees, they could hear fighting.

Frozen twigs snapped underfoot with each chitin-coated footstep as they crept further into the trees. Varus had his bow grasped in his hands while Rhaast held his scythe close to his body. At the edge of the trees, they came to a large snowdrift and hid behind it to figure out what was happening.

Three armies were fighting each other, and in the middle of all of it was Aatrox. The best way to describe him was by comparing him to Rhaast. But if Rhaast had a candle burning in his chest, Aatrox was an inferno. He had hundreds of cuts on his body, most of them bleeding. A cloud of blood filled the air around him and smoke rose off of his bulk.

He jumped up and flapped his wings before he swung a giant sword into the ground and broke everything in its path, landing and crushing a barbarian underneath him. Aatrox shouted something in ancient Shuriman before leaping towards a group of trolls. Even as their metal and ice impacted his body, he did not budge. He backhanded one with his massive gauntlet before skewering two with his sword. Blood flowed from them into the blade and Aatrox grew slightly larger and glowed brighter.

A particularly massive troll bound up to him before slamming him in the head with a war hammer. Aatrox's head snapped back and he rotated his neck before grinning maniacally. He spun around and with a single stroke, decapitated the troll.

Rhaast began to shudder and pant as bloodlust overcame him. Varus reached out to grab him but he shrugged off his hand and sprang out of the snowdrift. Petrus groaned before sending him a mental message.

" _Don't kill the humans if you don't have to."_

He was surprised to see Rhaast pause slightly before shouldering and kicking the humans out of the way. He and Varus got up and sprinted after Rhaast. A group of howling barbarians belted towards them and Petrus held up his hand to push them away with a blast of psychic force. He looked forward and saw that Rhaast was almost to Aatrox.

Aatrox spun as if sensing him before beating his chest and screaming a challenge. He swung his massive blade but Rhaast dodged under it before slashing his scythe at Aatrox's leg. It impacted at the knee and cut a few inches into Aatrox, causing crimson ichor to leak out.

Aatrox reached out with his gauntlet and grabbed Rhaast by the throat before lifting him up. With a flap of his wings, Aatrox rose off the ground. He started to move the wings again but an arrow from Varus shot through them before impacting into a group of fighting humans behind them.

Aatrox howled before throwing Rhaast onto the ground and seemed to float in place for a second before plummeting down and landing on top of him. Right before impact, Rhaast turned incorporeal and floated to the side. The ground shook as Aatrox landed and Rhaast's scythe arced out again and cut Aatrox on the ankle. Another arrow impacted Aatrox's chest and flew through it.

Rhaast jumped to his feet and spun his scythe around in a circle, cutting apart anyone stupid enough to be close by. His body swelled with the spilled blood and Petrus groaned. Anyone still fighting here soon would be slaughtered by the Darkin. He bit his tongue before sending out a massive pulse.

" _ **Leave this valley if you want to live."**_

Miraculously, almost all of the fighters left and upon seeing this, Petrus readied and fired half a dozen javelins at Aatrox. They didn't have the same strength as Varus but still did damage to Aatrox.

Varus fired again but Aatrox caught it this time and growled before crushing the arrow in his gauntlet, forming it into a fist, and smashing it into Rhaast's head. Rhaast went soaring away and Aatrox took flight towards him. His sword came down on Rhaast and cleaved his body in two, legs and torso fully separated.

Rhaast screamed in pain and fear as Aatrox's foot came down on the wound and twisted the innards. Like a wild animal, he scratched at the leg on top of him. Aatrox only laughed at his efforts before lifting his foot and stomping again. After a third stomp, Rhaast stopped moving, after a fourth, he stopped making noises. Aatrox raised his foot for a fifth stomp before a pulse of force bigger than any Petrus had made before slammed into him.

Aatrox was sent spinning through the air, smashing into the ground. He got to his knees even as Varus fired arrow after arrow into him. Body bleeding in a dozen places, Aatrox reached up to his chin and cracked it back into place before spitting out blood.

" **YES! THIS IS A FIGHT! THE BLOOD! THE CARNAGE! I NEED IT! GIVE IT TO ME!"**

There was a thrum of power and Aatrox swelled before sprinting and taking flight at Varus and Petrus. Petrus attempted to knock him out of the sky with a pulse but the massive form of Aatrox was too strong. He fell upon them like a dragon, ancient and full of death. His impact cracked the ground and then there was only darkness.

* * *

It had taken a while for Kai'sa to reach the sands of Shurima, and even longer for her to find an area that she somewhat recognized. She didn't really have a plan for what to do after reaching Shurima except head vaguely towards the distant Icathia and hunt the Voidborn.

By day she would either travel in subterranean caverns or on the surface, by night she would hunt the beasts when they emerged. She had been racking up a steady count of kills the further south she moved but lately, the prey had been few and far between, leaving her low on energy as her parasitic suit drained the strength from her rather than her kills.

Currently, she found herself on a series of large sand dunes. Wind whipped around her, sending grains of sand pinging off of her carapace. She didn't have the same psychic sensings as Petrus but her parasite did have an affinity for its brethren, and right now it was going crazy. There were a lot of creatures that were close by. She began to sprint towards the feeling as her suit sealed up over her face. It pulsed around her body, sensing the contractions of her muscles and amplifying the movements.

As she crested the dune, she came within sight of an ancient temple which was in the process of sealing itself up. A figure was framed in a violet glow right before the heavy stone doorway slid shut.

She sprang from the top of the dune and fired a flurry of plasma at the roof and doorway of the temple, crashing through in a cascade of biomissiles and debris. Landing in front of the person, she turned to face them.

A terrified boy sat on the ground. He had large blue eyes, pale skin, and blonde hair. His eyes widened as he looked at her and she smirked a bit to herself before commanding the suit to open around her face. She moved her head as if gesturing for him to run. He scrambled back towards the doorway, cradling some sort of blue stone.

She turned back to face a sea of voidlings and let loose another series of blasts before vaulting into the air. The plasma sent their small bodies flying and she landed in the middle of them before letting out more blasts.

But there were too many, they were chittering all around her, rushing her from the dark in every direction. She flipped over a cluster of them and fired at three of them before one of them bit her from behind. Sensing the danger, her suit sealed up over her head as they clawed at her face. She kept firing plasma at them.

They shrieked as their bodies were vaporized but more came, crawling on her. She twisted and squirmed but fell under the swarm. Then she was back in the caves as a little girl. Scared, and alone. Nobody would save her, the boy was long gone. At least she had done something with her last seconds of life. As their scything claws punctured her suit she lamented that she would not be there to fight the final battle.

Her vision filled with golden light as their bodies were incinerated. She whirled to face the source and was surprised to see the boy was back. He smirked at her and flicked some hair out of his face before pointing a large bow of blue energy formed around his gauntlet at the swarm and firing another golden wave.

He disappeared in a flash of light before reappearing behind her and firing more bolts. She got to her feet, wounds already closing up before joining her back to his and firing plasma out of her palms.

A second wave of the chittering creatures rose up from the abyss and skittered towards them. He gave a small yelp before disappearing and reappearing a few steps away and fired more bolts. She jumped after him and shot at the creatures in between them and the exit. They ran together in a strange synergy, jumping and spinning around each other and slaughtering anything that came close.

She leaped and fired an array of missiles at a small swarm in front of them and he yelled as he fired a massive arc of energy. As they exited the gateway to the temple she fired at the structure overhead and collapsed the entire thing. The swarm shrieked inside as the foundations crumbled into the abyss and they plummeted downwards.

They both stopped running and turned to face each other. He wiped the sweaty hair out of his face. She breathed heavily under her suit's mask.

"Uh… thanks," he said, "I'm Ezreal."

He put out his hand to shake. She looked at it but did not move.

"Kai'sa."

He smiled and brought back his hand.

"Charmed."

He looked her up and down and even inside the suit it felt like he was analyzing her very being.

"So… what's with all the… void bits?" he asked as he gestured to her body.

"It's a long story."

"Well…" he said as he picked up the blue crystal from the ground, "I've got time."

She smirked slightly under her mask. His perseverance was annoying… but endearing.

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

_Stay out of my head Petrus._

Stay. Out.

She didn't want anything to do with him. He threw up his hands and looked at her retreating figure before whirling himself and stumbling away.

"Stupid... " he muttered under his breath as he kicked a loose stone out of the way.

The moon began to rise from the horizon as he reached the edge of the village. A small ways away was an open cliff which he strode over to. He sat on the edge and his feet dangled into the abyss. Behind him, white ethereal figures of the people he used to know sprang from his mind and wandered aimlessly through the buildings.

Tears trickled down his face and the scars on his body stung in the moonlight. He hated everything. He had nothing. Diana was all he had and he had invaded her mind and pushed her away. He sat for hours, accompanied only by the ethereal figures of his mind and his thoughts which always came back to her.

Behind him, the bright figures seemed to stutter and shake. He didn't notice any changes, too focused on the moon out in the distance. Even as shadows began to weave into their bright bodies and twist them in nightmarish mirrors of themselves, he did not see.

The slouching figures dragged themselves across the ground towards him, stained black and misting with hatred.

" _P-p-petrussss…"_ hissed one as it pointed an outstretched talon at him.

Another one howled and lunged at him. He sprang to his feet and dodged as it flew past him and into the abyss, screaming in rage all the way down. A third one muttered " _stay out. Stay out. STAY OUT OF MY HEAD."_ before swinging a phantasmal sword at him.

He held out his arm and stumbled away, the blade cutting it lightly. He moved around the creatures away from the cliff and looked down at his arm. Blood began to trickle from the wound and shadows seemed to rise from the cut.

" _This isn't my time."_

" _Die heretic"_

" _K-kill him-m-m"_

" _R-r-nghgh"_

_"Mom?"_

Their voices raised into an earsplitting cacophony of noise and they swung at him with more weapons. He reached to his waist and drew the old blade out of its scabbard. He blocked as fast as he could but there were so many of them. Attacks came from all around and he was being overwhelmed.

His eyes flashed white and he screamed in rage and sorrow and pain. An explosion of force and light and noise roared from around him and sent their bodies careening back. A few of the creatures stayed down, many crawled to their feet.

They cracked in place and jumped around, becoming more fluid. Instead of stumbling, they now sprinted at him as if invigorated by his power. He held out his sword and prepared to meet them head on.

He never got the chance.

A pillar of moonlight slammed down around him but did not harm him. The shadowy bodies were incinerated and vanished into wisps of nightmares. The moonlight purified him, ripped away everything that made him who he was. It poured into his mouth and tasted of the sea, of foam and wind and brine. It tasted of chilly nights in the hills, leaves whispering in the wind. It tasted of blood and iron. It tasted of home and family. It tasted of life and death.

It filled him until he was going to burst and then it vanished until he stood in a smoldering clearing surrounded by destroyed shadows. A few strides away, Diana stood, sword outstretched in his direction. Her eyes were filled with worry.

"Petrus… I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have- I didn't-"

He sunk to his knees as wisps of moonlight rose from his trembling body. She ran to him and hugged him. They cried together, crouched in the embrace of one another. Thoughts raced between their minds, shared through their embrace.

She saw everything, his family, his home, his time, the Solari as they slaughtered everyone they knew, his prison, his pain, herself. He saw her life in the Solari, finding hidden texts, climbing to touch the moon, being reborn, killing the Solari, himself.

They gazed into one another and found each other and their kindred pain. Their souls had no more secrets, nothing left to hide. Only moonlight. Only passion. Only pain. They pulled back from each other before Diana grabbed his chin and pushed her lips to his.

* * *

**I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.**

**Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.**


	8. Swords in the Snow III

Everything was bright and scalding. His entire body hurt. Petrus groaned and rolled around. He was cold, too cold. The world creaked around him and he opened his eyes. He was covered in blood… _his_ blood. The ground was shattered around him but his body was not broken. He looked to the side and the bones in his neck grated against each other.

Varus lay still on the ground next to him. Shattered crystal surrounded his body and streams of blood floated through the air towards him. It snuck into his wounds, creating new flesh and crystal and binding his wounds.

With monumental effort, Petrus lifted his head. His body was broken and battered, but similar streams of blood flowed into it, healing it with ancient Darkin sorcery. He squinted and followed the stream to its source.

The blood was coming from all of the slaughtered humans around him. If he had anything in him at that point, he probably would have thrown up. If he had any energy or fight left, he would have told Zalia to stop. But moving his eyes took effort, how could he stand up to a Darkin? He laid there and let Zalia's infernal sorceries mend his shattered bones and butchered flesh.

At some point he must have fallen back into oblivion as the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to a face full of weapon tips. Many of the wielders were dressed in blue cloaks or hide and plate armor. A large tent was covering them. A woman with white hair and a bow of ice was at the front of them. A large man with a horned helmet and a massive hooked sword growled.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The woman put a hand on his shoulder.

"Tryndamere, please. Let me do the talking."

She turned to Petrus.

"What are you doing here Southerner? You're far from home."

"We are looking for someone."

He took that moment to look around the tent and saw that Varus and Kayn were still incapacitated

"What are you?"

"Me? I'm human."

"My warriors tell me when they saw you in battle, you looked like the demon warrior."

"He- we- aren't demons. Does the North not know of the Darkin?"

"We have no tales of your Dark Kin here."

_It's probably for the best,_ murmured Zalia in his mind.

"Well, I'm human, we all are in some manner of the sense. But we have parasites that are the remains of ancient warriors that stood against the great evil below."

Some of the warriors behind the woman muttered between each other and made signs.

"You know of the Watchers?"

_We fought a watcher once, it killed many Sunborn._

"If they fought against the Watchers as you said, why does the one you fight now slaughter us?"

"Aatrox, like all the Darkin, was driven mad from exposure to the malignant energies of the Void and were imprisoned in their weapons, leaving them as spiteful and vengeful beings."

"And why do you fight the one you call Aatrox?"

"We need either him or his sword, the Void is returning in the South, and we need the might of the Darkin to fight them."

The woman turned and whispered to a council of older warriors for a while. Every so often they would stare at Petrus before turning back. The warrior known as Tryndamere even spoke a bit with them while sharpening his large blade.

After what felt like an eternity, they turned back to Petrus.

"What is your name warrior?"

"Petrus."

"Well met Petrus, I am Ashe, the Warmother of the Avarosans. We seek no part in the conflicts of Southerners though, we have enough here. You may leave us peacefully if you do not bring further war to our people."

She held out her hand and Petrus took it, letting her help him to his feet. Tryndamere looked him up and down before grunting. Ashe led Petrus through the ring of people around them he looked around.

The other two armies were gone and judging by Tryndamere's more recent wounds, he might have had a part in that. Varus and Kayn were woken up and given back their weapons, host bodies only starting to wither without the contact. Varus opened his mouth to say something to one of the Avarosans but a stern look from Petrus got him to shut up.

Aid was offered to them in hunting down and apprehending Aatrox but they declined, any humans would be a liability, allowing Aatrox to siphon off their lifeforce to further power his eldritch power.

The trail of destruction Aatrox had left behind once again was not hard to follow. Massive footprints led towards the treeline where a pathway of trees was uprooted going off into the distance. A large groove in the ground marked where Aatrox dragged his massive sword behind him. The three of them started down that path, leaving the humans behind.

A storm began to once more whip up around them and thick curtains of snow obscured their view. Holding their minimal clothing closer to their bodies, the three shook as Darkin corruption began to course through their bodies covering the flesh from the cold.

Varus crouched next to one of the footprints and put his hand in it, before making some visual measurements.

"They are getting smaller, he's burning through all of his stolen flesh. We need to catch him before he finds more mortals."

They began to speed up, trudging through the rising snowdrifts. The snowy plains began to transition to a rocky hillside filled with perilous ice that sent them sliding downhill with each misplaced footstep.

Soon they were climbing nearly vertically, following the colossal handholds punched out of the mountainside by Aatrox. At one point, Varus lost his footing and nearly fell but a psychic pull from Petrus brought him back onto the mountain's face.

The wind battered and bruised them on the sides of the unforgiving rocks but they continued to climb further, finally reaching the top. Giving themselves a few minutes to recover, they looked around the edges of the peak. Varus squinted and then got their attention, pointing towards a distant figure heading down the mountain.

The three of them sprinted towards the figure who had no idea about the hell that was coming towards him. When they had first fought him, it was seperately, but now they were going to work together to bend the monster's knee.

* * *

Aatrox set down the mountain towards the human village at the bottom in a brisk stride. His tattered wings and broken body slowed him down a bit as he had to use a lot of energy in the fight against his insufferable cousins. But with the slaughter and oblivion he would bring to this settlement, he would be one step closer to reaching his true form.

His breath wheezed in his chest and he coughed, malignant tumors taking root in the lungs. Without a constant flow of blood and flesh, his body was turning against him, infecting itself with rot and disease to tear him down to just the sword. This was his curse. Without the perfect host, he would decay to the prison of the blade.

If he had lips, he would be licking them at the slaughter he was about to take part in.

Then a scythe rose from the ground and embedded itself in his foot, digging into the ground and pinning it there. He lifted his other foot but a series of arrows impaled it into the ground. He was completely pinned and howled in pain and anger.

Rhaast rose from the ground in an ethereal form, sneering at him with his insufferable shark-faced grin. Another one of Varus's arrows slammed into him, this time skewering the back of his knee. Rhaast grabbed onto Aatrox's gauntlet and held fast. Aatrox raised his sword only to have his entire arm freeze as Zalia's host used some sort of power to stop it.

He growled, blood dripping down his bony chin.

"Aatrox!" called the boy.

Aatrox groaned as another arrow hit his other knee and began to teeter in place.

"Lend your blade to our cause or give it in death."

" **I WILL NEVER BOW!"**

Rhaast smiled and began to laugh.

" **I was hoping you'd say that."**

Faster than he could move, the scythe was pulled out of Aatrox's foot and stabbed into his chest before Rhaast pulled it down and brought him to his knees. Aatrox screamed in pain. He lifted his gauntlet and hammered it down onto Rhaast's head, sending him flying away.

He turned towards the boy and punched the ground, sending scalding hot chains flying towards him. The child rolled out of the way but his concentration was broken and Aatrox spun his sword before striding towards the insufferable brat.

Then his wound exploded open as a massive arrow from Varus impacted the site followed by two more. Aatrox kneeled and rested his hands on his blade before pulling the lifeforce of the thousands of slain mortals from it, his wounds sealing and body growing.

Varus began to scream as he fed the own lifeforce from his bow into his arrow. He released and the pulsing red arrow flew towards Aatrox. He swung his sword to block it but the child used his obnoxious powers to pull the blade out of the way at the last second. The arrow hit in the same spot and sent Aatrox flying down the mountainside, his impact sending up clouds of snow.

Rhaast ran towards him but Aatrox surged to his feet and whirled his sword around in a screaming arc, embedding it into the space between Rhaast's neck and his shoulder. The blade bit through bone before halting. Aatrox lifted up his leg and kicked Rhaast in the chest, sending him scrapping down the blade and tumbling once more down the mountain.

Another flurry of arrows and javelins rained down on him, sending him to his knees with a dozen impaling wounds.

* * *

Petrus nodded to Varus before running towards the fallen foe. Aatrox punched his face and growled before getting back to his feet. Petrus pushed himself into the air before sending another barrage of psychic javelins at Aatrox. They were deflected by his blade but served their purpose as Rhaast came up behind Aatrox undetected and stabbed his scythe into him before tearing it out and vanishing into the hole he created. Aatrox's mouth widened in a silent gasp and he sunk to his knees once more.

The scythe hovered over Aatrox and everyone heard Rhaast howling in laughter from inside Aatrox's chest.

" **I always fucking hated you Aatrox."**

Then he flew out of Aatrox followed by his scythe which arced down and through him, eviscerating Aatrox's body and killing him in a shower of blood and internal organs.

Rhaast rotated his neck with a series of cracks before smiling and turning to the evaporating form of Aatrox. Sauntering over, he picked up the sword and laughed maniacally. He shook it in his hands for a bit before tossing it aside. That was all Aatrox was now and without a host, he was unable to do anything from within the prison that was his blade.

Varus picked up the sword and wrapped it in his cloak before tying ropes around it in order to keep the blade concealed. Snow poured down around them, covering the rapidly decaying corpse of Aatrox's host. The beast had been defeated. The three of them began to travel down the mountain towards the small village in the distance.

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

In the weeks following the incident, Petrus and Diana were inseparable. And yet despite her protests, he still saw her as both his elder and the Aspect of his god rather than just a woman. They sat together on the top of a ruined building and watched the moon as it crawled into the sky, pulling the veil of stars along with it.

She held his hand in hers and her eyes fell away from the half-moon and focused on the scars from the Solari's torture he wore on his back. Their symbol followed by a list of all of the crimes he had committed just by existing wound their way down his back, glowing slightly in the moonlight.

Diana reached out and traced her fingers down his back, causing him to shiver. He turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry I should have asked."

He smiled slightly, "It's okay."

She placed her hand back on his back and followed the scars, he tensed up slightly before relaxing and sinking back into her touch.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Sometimes," he answered, "especially during full moons when the magic is most powerful."

"I'm so sorry it happened to you, I'm sorry for everything."

"It wasn't your fault Diana! The only thing you did was save me."

She continued to trail her finger over the ancient Solari text, lost in thought. He cleared his throat and she looked back up into his eyes, full of mirth. Despite all that had happened to him at the hands of the Solari, he was still happy. That happiness came from her.

It made her feel a sense of belonging and love.

He leaned in for a kiss and she met him halfway. Her hands came up to rest on the back of his neck and she trailed her fingers through his pale hair. His hands found their ways to her hips and held fast even as she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. He sighed into her kiss and his hands moved to her rear, pulling her body to his.

She started to gently rock her hips on top of him, continuing to kiss him before speeding up the tempo. She leaned back and began to unfasten the straps on her breastplate before ripping it off and throwing it to the side. Her nails traced up the sides of his torso before tearing his ragged shirt off. She continued to move her hips as she reached back and peeled the skintight bodysuit from her body, illuminating her pale flesh in the moonlight. His hands were so warm against her skin in the cold night. Her hair was getting in front of her face so she pulled it back into a ponytail behind her head. She reached down and undid his pants before moving onto him. Pressing her lips to his, moaned into his mouth. The two made love in the night with the silent moon overhead as their witness.

* * *

**I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.**

**Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.**


	9. Burdens from Below

As the three Darkin carried their prize towards the village, it soon became apparent that something was very wrong. The wall made out of logs around the village was shattered in a dozen places, huts and fortifications lying in splinters. Large holes in the ice marked where something had tunneled around. Blood and debris were scattered throughout the village but no bodies were to be seen.

Out of the corner of his eye, Petrus noticed Varus reach up to tighten the rope that bound Aatrox to his back. Even through the cloak wrapped around his blade, his malevolent crimson glowed, turning the snow around him into a faint pink.

Kayn’s bones creaked and flesh withered as Rhaast’s corruption spread, his form growing as he looked around for whatever had done this. Petrus opened his mind but could sense nothing around him except for the hostility and restlessness of the two Darkin next to him.

Then the beast erupted through the ice in between them, sending everyone flying backwards with crystal shards of frost raining down on them. It let out a tremendous roar before skittering on the ground towards Rhaast. Picking him up in it’s beastial maw, it bit down with a crunch causing Rhaast to howl.

The hulking creature was covered in grey plating, purple flesh peaking in between the cracks in its organic armor. Its long, segmented body was held up on a multitude of skittering legs and where its head would have been was replaced with a massive, fanged mouth. Clearly a spawn of the Void.

Petrus reached out towards Rhaast, Darkin corruption beginning to cover his hand and pushed off the ground before his chest lit out with pain. He looked down and noticed his lifeblood leaking onto the ground which he collapsed onto.

A second creature stood behind him, much different from the first. Twitching in the winter chill, covered in a patchy hide of white fur with grey and purple flesh. Vaguely humanoid shaped but with oddly bent knees and arms that were too long. Three green eyes stared into his own as slobber dribbled onto his back from its large fangs. The world seemed to freeze as he stared into those eyes, it felt like he was being eaten by them. Then an arrow slammed into the side of its head, embedding into the flesh. It howled and stood up.The large serrated claws piercing through his chest were pulled back, tearing the flesh with the motion.

Petrus screamed and clutched his chest as he crawled away from it.

 _“I’ve got you Petrus.”_ soothed Zalia as he felt her corruption continuing to spread throughout him, giving him her strength.

The second creature chittered at the first which spat out Rhaast before turning towards Varus who released a second arrow. As the worm skittered towards him, Varus fired a hail of arrows at it to no avail.

Petrus screamed as he got off the ground into a crouch before pulling at the air, yanking the creature back with waves of force. The creature that had stabbed him flicked its noticeably bloody claws back out and strode towards him before pausing.

Petrus heard groaning behind him before Rhaast stumbled beside him and offered a hand. The plating on his chest was cracked and crimson and golden ichor dripped from his body in a thousand places. Petrus took his hand and hauled himself to his feet, his own wounds starting to heal.

 _“Zalia what creatures are these?”_ he asked the book.

_“Voidspawn, not much can be told other than that, I’ve never seen these types before.”_

_“Great...”_

_“Watch out for the claws Petrus.”_

_“Got it, thank you, very helpful.”_

“Zalia’s got nothing,” he told Rhaast.

“Hahaahahaa! Would you look at that!” he shouted between wet coughs, “Mistress of knowledge is stumped like the rest of us!”

He snarled before bringing the scythe behind himself and dashing forward to swing at the Voidspawn. The creature cocked its head to the side and made a chittering noise before grabbing the blade in its claws and throwing it to the side with Rhaast soon following.

It galloped towards Petrus on all fours, barrelling into him and sending him flying again. Its bones cracked like glass as it moved, reforging in new abominable patterns to better suit its hunt.

It clambered up to him and slashed at his chest with razor claws again and again. Petrus screamed and his eyes flashed red, runes exploding around him and sending the beast back with a crack of reality shifting. He held his hands out and a torrent of magic washed over its body, flaying flesh from bone and tearing sinews.

It was the creature’s turn to scream as its form was compromised, sinking in upon itself. In a last ditch attempt to kill him it flung its arms down and skewered him into the ground through the chest and abdomen before falling.

With a wet chortle, Petrus spewed out blood onto the snowy earth before lying still.

_“Get up Petrus.”_

He tried to say that he couldn’t, but his lungs felt flooded with something. Must have been blood. Wouldn’t that be funny.

He tried to laugh but a sickening rasp was all he could manage.

“Get up brother, be strong for me.”

The ethereal figure of his sister loomed over him. A face he hadn’t seen in over three hundred years.

_Syrela…_

He gasped and tried to move but couldn’t.

“Get up son, you’re better than this.”

_Dad…_

“Get up my little moonblossom.”

_Mom…_

His entire family stood around him as he lay dying. He screamed, blood frothing at his lips and pushed against the floor, rising from the swamp his lifeblood had created. The air around him was atomized in a flux of magical force that warped the atmosphere around him, burning the blood from his skin. In a haze of red mist, he strode towards his compatriots who were fighting the last creature.

Rhaast was standing in its mouth, holding the jaws apart as Varus fired arrow after arrow down its ravaged throat. His scythe was buried somewhere in its flank. The creature roared and a torrent of bile spewed forth, scorching Rhaast who screamed as his flesh sloughed off in pieces. Then Petrus was there covered in his cloud of blood. He slammed into the creature next to Rhaast and pushed the mouth open even further.

The creature’s roars turned to fearful screams as something cracked and the mouth opened even further. Rhaast howled in laughter as he bent his knees before jumping, tearing the top half of its head off in a fountain of gore. He continued to tear apart the body, bloodlust completely overtaking him.

Petrus meanwhile sunk to his knees in the middle of the carnage. Varus checked that Aatrox’s blade was still secure before coming over, crystal receding from his ethereally beautiful form. Varus looked down at him and cocked an eyebrow without saying anything, brushing some of his long, white hair out of his face. There was a crack behind them as Rhaast tore something apart followed by more laughter and squelching.

_Drip._

He looked down and watched as droplets of blood startled to sprinkle the snow below him. Petrus reached up and felt his nose, quickly finding the source of the bleeding. The dripping turned to a stream and he fell to all fours. He coughed, blood splashing out in smoldering pools with magic rising off of them.

It was as if his body was rejecting the very magic that was coursing through his veins. His vision began to cloud and he lost feeling in his limbs, falling to the frosted ground below. The last thing he saw before he faded to black was the dissolving body of the slain voidling and Rhaast walking back towards him.

And then the visions streamed towards him and he was swallowed.

* * *

  
  


“So basically, your entire village was swallowed up by a sinkhole caused by the Void and you survived in the tunnels alone for years?” asked Ezreal.

Kai’sa nodded silently.

“That’s crazy!” his eyes widened and he leaned closer, “I mean, of course, _I_ could do it too, but you know, all that time alone… in the dark.” he groaned.

She smiled a bit at that. Ezreal was only a year or two older than her and while she had initially been hesitant about it, over days of traveling with him and explaining her story, she decided that he actually was pretty cute. Granted his personality was obnoxious most of the time. But between boasts of his exploits a sweet heart shone through. She looked at his big blue eyes and the golden hair that waved in the desert wind. 

_So exotic and foreign to the brown hair and tan skin I’ve known my whole life._

Her face began to heat up but she continued staring at him as he explained some heroic exploit he had done in some far away land.

Eventually, he noticed her staring at him and his face reddened slightly. Luckily he also stopped his story and cleared his throat sheepishly.

“So… uh Kai’sa, what did you miss most about the above world?”

“Peaches,” she answered immediately.

He stared at her in confusion.

“Uhmmm… I mean o-”

She laughed and his face split into a smile.

“I’m kidding, I do love peaches… but I really missed just being able to talk to people.”

Her face sobered.

“Even after I clawed my way out, almost everyone only saw the monster I wore around me. You’re one of the first people who saw me for who I really am.”

“Of course Kai’sa, I’m no stranger to new things, it’s all part of the job.” his face grew stoic and he struck a pose, voice deepening. “Nothing a world class explorer can’t handle.”

“So Ezreal…” she said, “I’ve been meaning to ask. What _do_ you see in me? Why do you see my human part?”

His face reddened even further and he took a breath of air.

“Honestly, I thought you were kind of like me. Lonely. Misunderstood. Nobody believed in me, in what I wanted to do. Nobody was there for me but me.” _Plus, you’re smoking hot Kai’sa._

He left the last part out though, he didn’t feel like getting murdered.

“Oh,” she said as she turned away.

Was that… disappointment he heard in her voice?

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

_“Pe-e-e-etrus! My little moonblossom where are you?”_

“Nghhh…”

_“Petus! Supper is ready! Come inside!”_

“M-mom what?

His eyes opened and he looked around. He was in what he and Diana considered their bedroom. Realistically it consisted of a bunch of leaves, furs, and ragged blankets they had scavenged over the months.

He looked up through the rotten roof at the moon up above. It was a crescent, barely visible amidst what seemed like a thousand clouds. It looked like a storm was coming, they should probably patch up the roof tomorrow.

_They._

He looked to his left and smiled. The nude body of Diana next to him under the covers, pressed to him for warmth. When she was asleep she looked so peaceful.

No, peaceful wasn’t the right word.

_Safe._

Safe from all of the horrors the Solari had done, safe from persecution, safe from a death by steel and bronze.

_“Peeeeeetrus! Come here!”_

A voice carried over the wind across the valley they called their home. He slipped out of bed, Diana murmuring something in her sleep and snuggling deeper into their blankets to regain some of the heat he had left with.

He got dressed and slipped out of the dilapidated structure through a hole in the wall, glancing around him in the darkness for whatever was making that noise.

_“Moonblossom! Come for supper! I promise you can play more tomorrow!”_

He turned towards the noise and froze. Above him was a shining ethereal form of his mother. It was more brilliant than any of the silhouettes he created. Everything else lacked features, blank faces and flat bodies.

But there she was, clear as moonlight. He scrambled over rocks and rubble towards her.

“Mom? What… how?” 

She smiled as he reached her.

 _“Thank you for coming moonblossom.”_ her ethereal hands placed themselves on his shoulders and she pressed her head to his, a faint chill coming over him.

_“It’s getting dark outside and you know it isn’t safe! The Solari will make their rounds soon and I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. That’s why you need to come in for supper when I call you okay?”_

“It’s… it’s okay mom, the Solari haven’t found us yet.”

She seemed unphased by his answer and turned to gesture up the mountain behind her.

_“Look baby, here comes their patrol now, thank the crescent mother you came inside when I called you.”_

He looked up the mountain.

_Fuck._

A line of lanterns swung back and forth down the mountainside carried by distant figures. The Solari were coming, they had found them.

He turned back but the ghostly figure of his mom had already faded into moonlight and thought essence.

_Diana._

He began to sprint down the hill towards her.

* * *

**I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.**

**Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.**


	10. Absolution from Above

The visions poured over him like a crashing wave of dark water, drowning him in their depths. He drifted for what felt like something between an eternity and a heartbeat before a dark maw opened up underneath him, rushing up to swallow him and sear the corruption from his form. He was striped bare, losing flesh and bones until only his mind remained, reduced to a singular purpose. Voices rushed towards him, in a myriad of emotions and languages that was too much to understand. Words that had been uttered eons ago, or not yet screamed for thousands of years to come. As fast as the voices came, they faded. The creaking of reality in its rhythmic undulating and swaying patterns took over waves of darkness flying in front of him. With each wave, his body was reformed until it suited this absence.

He looked down at his hands and then at the abyss below him before his vision faded again for a few seconds. Something flashed in the darkness in a color he had never seen nor could he describe. A tendril of something cold coiled around his hand and began to squeeze, pulling him down even as more tendrils grabbed his legs.

Was he in the Void again?

No. It was different here. It felt… familiar in a way only he could know.

He looked past the darkness towards the source of the tendrils and saw a vaguely humanoid figure.

It tilted its head as if puzzled at his appearance before speaking to him in a language he did not understand in words that were not meant for mortal ears.

He opened his mouth to try to speak but no sound came out, and then he was pulled into the abyss, a cloud of black particles rushing around him in a stream that collided with and shattered the figure, eviscerating it and sending it screaming into the dark.

He now only saw the night sky as the stars declared war on themselves, lances of energy flying throughout the darkness and colliding into the brightest of them. There was a flash of colors and a meteor hurled towards him, exploding into half a dozen glittering pieces.

Suddenly, he found himself on an ancient battlefield. Orbs of green fire and arrows filled the sky around him as warriors in strange plate slashed into each other with wicked grace. There was a flash of purple light and everything disappeared.

A blue giant towered in the sky over a dying city. People screaming as their bodies were atomized in a wave of death that buried the buildings, sealing everyone into a mass grave. As the impending wall of energy reached him he vanished.

Searing arcs of crimson coiled through a different city, gouging into the ground and carving chunks out of reality. The world howled and broke under the power that was unleashed. A tendril of energy rose up and slammed into him, sending him into darkness.

He saw a prism of brilliant green energy hovering over a rocky plateau before exploding in a wave of light that uprooted the rock around it before creating a flourishing jungle of trees. As it sank into the mulch, further pulses rang out creating more and more vibrant life.

He saw millions of more visions in the span of seconds before he focused on one of the prisms. It was so bright, pulses of energy flying off of it and leaving multitudes of runic symbols in its wake. He closed his eyes but still the symbols flashed on the insides of his eyelids. It was too bright. He opened his mouth to scream as the light consumed him but it flowed down his throat, scorching him from the inside and purifying him.

His eyes opened and he screamed in pain, thrashing in place and falling a bit before hitting the ground.

Kayn spoke up, "What the fu-"

"He's lost it, I'll just kill him now. Better to put him out of his misery" interrupted Varus, drawing an arrow into being on his bow.

Petrus didn't know where he was or what was happening but his entire body was in pain and Varus was pointing an arrow at him. He held out his palm and it glowed white before a wave of force blasted Varus backwards. He turned and pointed another hand at Kayn.

"Woah woah woah!" screamed Kayn, "You blacked out, I was carrying you, don't fucking blast me you psycho!"

"Why- uughhh- why does everything fucking hurt?" asked Petrus.

A voice came from behind him.

"I believe that I can be of some help with that answer."

He whirled around, instantly regretting the rapid motion, and gasped at both the pain and the sight that greeted him. A bald man with blue and purple skin stood behind him, massive scroll on his back and satchel of tomes on his hip.

"I'm Ryze, the Rune Mage. Your compatriots have told me you are a powerful mind mage."

"Petrus Rhuel, powerful mind mage." he said the last part with a small smirk.

"Do you know what a World Rune is?" he asked.

"I've heard whispers about them but don't actually know what they are."

"World Runes are immensely powerful artifacts that fell to this world when it was a lifeless hulk of rock. They seeded it with life and created all that we tread upon. They can also be used for great destruction. But among those who know of the World Runes, few know that they think and whisper. There is currently a World Rune in the Freljord that I am searching for. Somehow you established a mental connection to it and it is slowly destroying you by turning your own magic against you."

"But, why? How?"

"The runes, they want to be used. Always reaching out. Always calling. Your "ears" are much more sensitive than those of others. It's interesting, you have a large amount of magic in you for someone so young."

_Well, I did spend 300 years in a timeless vault. Makes sense._

"How do we stop the Rune from destroying me?"

"We find it and contain its power. The finding part should be much easier now that you have a connection to it."

"And how do you suggest we find it?"

"Simple really, you establish a mental link to it, find its location, and then I teleport us there."

Petrus opened his mouth to respond before pausing and shrugging. He shook his body in the cold air before widening his stance and tilting his head back, closing his eyes and untethering his mind from his body.

Even through his closed eyelids, he could still see the world around him in negatives. The bodies of those next to him glowed in pale grey while the land and sky around him was black, sun dead in the air.

Somewhere on the horizon, a blue flash exploded and he focused on it.

Neask, kul'iudan. **_Brother, the Sunfallen, they come for me._ **Rjasthak.

The words flowed over him and he turned around, noticing a green flare much, much further away to the South. It felt like the two entities were speaking to each other from hundreds of miles away. It felt like there were only two speaking, but also a million.

 **_You must break free from your prison._ **Kirost-lhi ikan.

 **_I can not._ ** Muarom-na. **_I am not strong enough._ **

**_Then take the Mindchild, he comes to claim you. Take him, and break free._ **

Kuvas. Letoran kirajsh.

**_Take._ **

**_Him._ **

A wave assaulted him and he roared, pushing it back. Staggering out of his trance, he pointed towards where the blue light had been.

"I know where they are." he screamed, creating a tangible thought in his hand and flinging it towards Ryze before collapsing to his knees.

Ryze caught it and the knowledge of where the rune hid filled his mind. He beckoned for Varus and Kayn to come closer before murmuring words of power, a blue circle beginning to form around the four of them.

As it fully enclosed them, the air turned a brilliant white and they were suddenly deep underground in a glowing blue cavern.

In the center of the cavern a blue glow almost too bright to look at radiated towards them.

**_They are here._ **

Gravash, frituln-kha.

**_I will take him._ **

Petrus screamed and staggered back before his eyes turned a brilliant blue, a psychic wave sending everyone flying away.

He began to shake before his hand extended towards the glow. The light vanished, leaving a small shape behind which flew to his hand, impacting and sending him to his knees. He held it above his head, blue eyes staring unseeing into it before bringing it down and stabbing it into his chest, roaring as the power of the world rune flowed into his body.

Ryze jumped to his feet, channeling a blast of magic in his arm before flinging it. Varus stepped in front, crystalline body breaking the magic and sending it screaming away.

"Do not hurt the moonchild, he is necessary for this world's survival."

'Your "moonchild" is dead, the world rune has taken him." screamed Ryze.

"Then we will bring him back," said Rhaast, corruption flowing through Kayn's body until his dark form towered above them.

Petrus's mouth opened and a blue glow flowed from it.

"Rivana dahanda. Mon'keigh you have come to die."

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

Petrus sprinted down the hill towards his and Diana's home, tripping over rocks and bumping into trees the entire way. As he reached the bottom, he careened around a low wall before skidding to a stop in front of their home, almost tripping over himself.

He hurried inside, immediately waking up Diana with his labored breathing.

"The Solari," he got out between gasps, "they are coming."

She quickly jumped out of bed, zipping up her undersuit and strapping on her armor. In moments she was ready, scimitar clutched in hand as she joined him outside, ready to face the Solari who had already surrounded them.

"Diana!" somebody yelled from outside, "send out the Moonchild and we will let you leave this place alive!"

"Leona!" hissed Diana, brandishing her blade which began to glow in the moonlight. "Petrus, I'll fight them off, make a run for the trees."

"Diana! I can't just leave you."

"Leona is the only one who is a match for me."

She sprinted out of the building before he could respond, immediately bisecting a Ra'Horak soldier from neck to waist before surrounding herself in orbs of moonlight and dashing to a group of them, scorching them in her cold fury.

Petrus picked up his sword and stepped outside to help her despite her command for him to flee, coming face to face with a woman who could only be Leona.

"Come peacefully Moonchild." she said, pointing her blade at him, "I will not ask again."

He spoke in the old language, "Ya Petrus au Verisa au Selatan ou Syrela ka Rhuel"

_I am Petrus Rhuel, Son of Verisa and Selatan, Brother of Syrela._

"Your people massacred my family. I will not bow to sun worshipers."

She answered his title with her own, "Ya Leona ae Arna ae Leandros oe Arkos oe Valin ka Ra'Horak ka seh Sol"

_I am Leona of the Ra'Horak, Chosen of the Sun, Daughter of Arna and Leandros, Sister of Arkos and Valin._

"This is going to hurt a lot for one of us." she said.

"It won't be me." he answered with a grunt.

"Petrus no!" screamed Diana from somewhere distant, the clash of blades and an explosion of moonfire covering up whatever she said next.

Petrus raised the sword above his head before throwing it down at the ground, sticking it hilt up into the soil. He sunk into a ready stance, eyes beginning to glow white as runic symbols flickered to life around him.

Leona smashed her sword into her shield with a clang before charging, only for him to blast her backward with a pulse of energy. She skidded along the ground a few paces before sticking her sword into the ground and coming to a halt, holding her shield out which extended and glowed golden.

Slowly treading forward, she shook off each additional blast he fired at her, armor clanking with each sturdy step forward. He began to backpedal but she sped up, breaking into a full sprint and slamming into him with her shield, sending his body crashing to the ground.

He tried to push himself to his feet but she smashed the pommel of her sword into his head, dazing him and leaving him reeling. Distantly, he heard Diana scream in fury before the ruins filled with pale light.

Then she crashed into Leona, the two of them spinning off into the night. He watched them as though he were underwater as the silver and gold lights collided and clashed with one another, Leona's toughness weathering Diana's rapid strikes but Diana's speed outmaneuvering Leona's clumsy swings.

He needed to help her. He couldn't lose anyone else. Not again. His eyes glowed brighter and he pushed himself up, more with his mind than hands. He pointed his hand at the battling figures but didn't notice the distortion forming next to his arm as a javelin began to take shape.

Running more on instinct rather than skill or knowledge, he flicked his arm forward and the javelin screamed through the air, shattering as it hit the ground between the two fighting women and sending them flying away from each other, neither moving.

_Diana._

_What had he just done?_

* * *

**I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.**

**discord.gg/ayUrWBx**

**If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.**

**Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.**

**I'm letting members of my discord server contribute to the story by sending in characters and ideas for me to use. Join if you would like to have an impact on the future events of Moonrise!**


	11. Memento Mori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I was working and am working on more stuff I promise <3

Petrus, _no_ , the World Rune that puppeteered his body jerked in place; limbs and spine bent at unnatural angles. The gaping wound in his chest poured blue light into the cavern, eyes smoldering with the same chilling color. It lifted its hands up and flexed the fingers in front of its face before slowly making fists, joints creaking and popping with each motion.

"Such freedom," it rasped as it unclenched its fists, "and yet such fragility." It turned its head to regard Ryze. "You... we know of you. You would seek to contain us like the others." It thrust out its hand and bolts of blue lightning connected with Ryze's chest, flinging him backward to collide with the cavern wall.

"That can not be allowed."

If it gave any indication of the presence of other Darkin, it didn't seem to care. Zalia was equally silent, still in her place in Petrus's satchel. The being pointed its other hand out and made a circling motion, a hole of blue light appearing in midair. The hole vanished when Rhaast's scythe cut through its elbow, sending the limb to the floor. In place of flesh, an arm of crackling blue energy appeared, pointing at Rhaast and blasting him back with a searing burst of energy and light.

"Fallen sun warriors," it mused, "little better than barbarians screaming into the night."

A flurry of arrows from Varus flew towards it, many of them dissolving in a pulse of energy. Two found their marks, puncturing its flesh. It moved to attack him but a timely intervention from Rhaast forced it back. Instead, it directed all of its power at Rhaast, blasting him with a beam of blue energy. He held the scythe out in front of him, deflecting some of the energy as he hunched over, weathering the assault.

"Rhaast, catch!" shouted Varus, throwing Aatrox's blade to him. It spun in the air before Rhaast snatched it, whirling it around in his hand to block the beam with its wide blade. Deep down underneath Rhaast's consciousness, Kayn felt another mind touch his the second Rhaast's hand closed around the blade, but it was quickly squashed down, disappearing into the depths of his body.

Using the sword as a sort of shield, Rhaast sprinted towards the possessed body of Petrus, forcing his way through the bulk of the attacks. A bolt of lightning ricocheted off of the blade, cracking the material and causing it to thrum, but Rhaast ran on without caring. All the while, Varus fired arrows at it while Ryze remained down on the ground, his human physique no match for the destructive force of the World Rune. Rhaast reached the puppet and slashed at it with Aatrox's blade. The sword cleaved harmlessly through a crackling matrix of energy as the being dissolved itself into a cloud of incandescent particles before reforming and attacking him with a glowing fist, cracking the chitin on his chest with a monstrous blow that sent him to his knees.

Rhaast screamed in pain as ichor leaked down his chest, vaporizing in the intense heat it encountered next to the exotic energies of the World Rune. It placed its hand on Rhaast's chest, sending that energy into his body, causing blue light to flood from his eyes and mouth as he was filled to the very brim, arcs of energy crackling through his skin and breaking him apart. Slivers of blue traced through his body, creating a patchwork of geometry as the whirled around each other, cauterizing flesh everywhere they touched. His howls reached a new, more hysterical peak as his very form was beginning to tear to pieces.

A charged shot from Varus impacted its chest, flying out the other side trailing ribbons of blue light and yet it hardly seemed fazed. Rhaast shuddered, blue fire spewing from gaps in his body before the light disappeared. Petrus's body was sent backward by an explosion of magic. Ryze had rejoined the fight. Muttering ancient words, he strode towards the embattled Darkin, firing orb after orb of arcane energy. A rune appeared in front of him. The very air itself whispered a word.

**Rhis**

He made a fist and pulled, his tattoos lighting up with energy as blue filaments flowed from Petrus's body. A second rune joined the first. It was louder, less of a murmur and more open.

**Kra**

It screamed as the light and power was pulled from its host body, forced into the original shape of the World Rune. He created the last rune in front of him and the seal was completed. The last one was screamed, the very cavern itself shaking as the world roiled.

**Vome**

* * *

Petrus was pulled back from the howling dark and everything was alight with pain. He watched as a blue light coalesced in front of him, forming into a vaguely pyramid-shaped form. It was so bright, calling to him in voices not heard in millennia. He reached for it but his body did not respond, it was so cold. The light began to fade… or maybe it was he who was fading, the darkness closing in around him.

He looked down at his hands and was confused to find that his left arm was missing halfway below the elbow, a cauterized stump in its place. The same arm that the tendril of unknowable darkness had wrapped around in his vision. The vision. What? Where was he? What was happening?

Distantly, he heard Kayn ask the man they had traveled here with why he hadn't done that right away. The man, Ryze, he vaguely remembered, explained that this would kill him. Kill him? Was this what dying felt like? He began to fall backward as something cut through the darkness that was pressing down on him from all sides. Somewhere, far away, he heard a gentle humming, and then time seemed to stop.

Over the humming, someone began to mumble something that he couldn't understand. Vaguely, he saw a shadow crouched on an outcrop of stone on one of the cavern walls, but couldn't focus on it as if it was something that he wasn't supposed to see. The shadow looked at him and its eyes glowed white. In his own voice, he heard, "Your time is not yet done little Moonblossom, you have much work to do."

Then it disappeared and the humming faded, replaced by a ringing noise as his mind was snatched back from the brink, body stitching together in a twilight haze as a spiraling glyph that only he could feel and see formed around his dead body.

He opened his eyes to stare at uneven stone above him. Where was he? He groaned, his body felt sore, but he could sense no lasting damage.

 _Zalia?_ He asked mentally as he tried to push himself off of the ground, but failed, his left hand not there to support his weight.

_Petrus? Petrus? You're alive?_

_Of course,_ he thought back, finally pushing off of the stump to get to his feet. He looked around and saw that Ryze was pushed against the wall by Rhaast who had his hand to the Rune Mage's throat while Varus sneered in his face.

"Stop!" shouted Petrus.

The three turned, and varying degrees of shock came over their faces.

"How are you alive?" asked Ryze, "Extracting the World Rune from your body is fatal."

"I'm with him," murmured Kayn, "you were not looking good."

If he was honest with himself, Petrus didn't remember dying or coming back to life. "All I remember is a faint light… and… some kind of ringing or… humming and a shadow?"

He turned to where he vaguely remembered something was, but found only a featureless rock.

"And what about your arm?" Varus wondered.

Petrus held out the limb in front of him, staring at the ruined flesh and scarred tissue around the stump. It was discolored from the rest of him and faint threads of black traced through it, moving slowly under the skin as they burrowed through his body.

 _I can try to grow back your arm,_ Zalia explained, _but it will take some time, and it will not be flesh you recognize. The wound was cauterized shut, making normal regeneration impossible. I'm going to have to improvise._

 _Thank you Zalia,_ he thought back

_Of course Petrus, I'm just relieved that you're alive._

_So am I._

Petrus realized that he had been staring at his arm for a while during the time he spent talking to Zalia and had not answered Varus's question.

"Zalia said she can do something about it but it will take time."

"So the old witch still lives," mused Varus wryly, "I feared for a moment that the Rune would have choked her from her prison."

"Thank you for your concern _archer_." seethed Zalia out loud.

"No, no," interrupted Kayn, "Stop fighting and shut up, you were dead, we saw you die."

"And now I'm alive. I have no idea why but I am," said Petrus as he gestured to himself, "Let's stop arguing about it and just move on."

"Fine," mumbled Kayn, "but this guy has got some talking to do." He grabbed Ryze by the arm and pulled him forward, causing the Rune Mage to stumble a bit.

"I don't need to explain myself, the Void is not the only threat that could end this world if left unchecked. Your mission is to stop the Void, mine is to manage the World Runes."

"I understand, there's no need to explain yourself. I don't know what came over me I... I'm sorry for what I did," said Petrus.

"The Rune reached out to you and it found a foothold. Like I said, you're a lot more sensitive to magic."

"And what of the World Rune now?"

Ryze gestured to a lantern-shaped capsule made out of pale-white stone material hooked to his belt. Blue light seeped through the cracks in it.

"Its power is contained for now until I can imprison it in a more permanent location. As repayment for helping me capture it, I can take you to one place in this world, but then our paths will part."

"So be it." answered Petrus, "Take us to the Sun Disk. Take us to Naktamun."

Ryze nodded and before Petrus knew what was happening they vanished in a flash of blue light.

* * *

~5.5 Years Ago~

He couldn't move, he could only stand and look at Diana on the ground. His body wouldn't respond as something welled up inside of him. If there were any Ra'Horak soldiers left, they would find him soon, he didn't care. It wouldn't matter if she was dead. His legs went limp and he fell on all fours, vomiting onto the ground. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't leave him. She was all he had left.

He reached a trembling hand out in front of him and grabbed onto the rocks and pebbles there, pulling himself forward with one excruciating motion after the other. Finally, he reached her side and found her unconscious with a gash on her head where she had hit the rocks. This was all his fault, for attacking, for using powers that he didn't have control over or understand. He was just lashing out into the night and striking everything around him. Violence would only further harm those he cared about. But he had to protect her, more Solari would be coming soon.

He was so weak, but he needed to be strong for her. He cradled her body and slowly stumbled to his feet. Using his powers would be so easy, but it was just as easy that it would harm her. He had to stand by himself or he would never be free from this cycle of violence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a discord server if anyone wants to play League with me or hang out and it would be dope if some people would come by and say hi.
> 
> discord.gg/ayUrWBx
> 
> If for some reason that code doesn't work when you put it in, just PM me and I'll get you one that does.
> 
> Looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you.
> 
> I'm letting members of my discord server contribute to the story by sending in characters and ideas for me to use. Join if you would like to have an impact on the future events of Moonrise!


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